PROJECT NOAH (or how KOS-MOS messed up Elysium)
by Ikasury
Summary: "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." " - Genesis 9:1 The End left some problems to be fixed, and KOS-MOS is the only one that seems interested in doing just that. (Weird segue from chapter 5 of Tempered Fragments, Featuring Morag/Nia, Zeke/Pandoria, Rex/Pyra/Mythra and various Blade Ships)
1. Ye shall be as gods

**A/N:** so here is my bit of OMGWTFBBQ-crack that spawned from beating the game, overthinking at 3am, and KOS-MOS... because KOS-MOS...

i'm a MAJOR Xeno-series nerd, i literally have all the games in some fashion, have played through them multiple times (Xenogears in particular) and while i know all the legality and 'technically' none of these are 'officially' related, just spiritual sequels or made by the same people, hey i'm one of those crazy fans that could link them all together and be proud! so this will have a few references to previous entries in the series cause why not! this is about as far into the crack bin as i've gone, its really weird that its almost serious!

... and yes this is just an excuse for 'Babies Ever After' cause i think that'd be hilarious!

and again, its all KOS-MOS' fault! :D

ENJOY!

* * *

Project NOAH (Or how KOS-MOS messed up Elysium)

Traveling through a cave system in the outskirts of Elysium, Herald came upon a large metal door.

Waving one of her black gloved hands, the mecha-dragon shell copying her motion, she unlocked the thick steel door, its old mechanism surging to life to pull back, revealing a large hollowed out structure inside.

Herald simply hovered on through, the heavy metal door closing behind her. The mecha-dragon-esque Blade passed several pillars, structural supports for this base they had found, which the two Blades had filled with all manner of ancient human technology they managed to find. Salvaging was still something adapting to the new actual waters of Elysium, and while most human salvagers weren't used to it yet, Herald and her partner were more than capable of surpassing the depths to recover ancient technology.

Their goal had been pieces of the orbital station, as Herald's partner had informed her the World Tree was once called.

Herald didn't understand this technology. Nothing in her memory could explain what it was and her intuition told her to leave it alone. But there were pieces… large mechanical constructs, similar to the Artifices that the Aegises could control, that often gave her pause. More than a few… their parts were similar in design to the mechanical dragon her fleshy body was trapped in. her partner said there was a reason for it, not that Herald fully understood.

Passing by the hulking husks of Artifices, Sovereigns, and various other bits and pieces of ancient human constructs, Herald finally came within the artificial light of her end goal.

"Herald," a pale blue haired battle android spoke softly, her red eyes never leaving the digital screens in front of her, "You have returned."

"I have," the pale purple haired Blade nodded, her mecha-dragon head mimicking the motion, as the large Blade hovered forward, holding out her hand, the mecha-dragon hand reaching out just the same, opening to reveal a glowing piece of what looked like glass, "I have recovered another piece of the… database… you requested, KOS-MOS."

KOS-MOS finally turned to her partner, stiffly shifting her view from the offered hand to Herald's face, "Thank you, Herald." Then retrieved the piece in both hands, looking it over before moving to a large rack system nearby, finding the appropriate slot and placing the crystal looking pieces inside.

The strange machine KOS-MOS had been working on for years whirred more, a light going around, and something new popped up on the largest screen.

The only part of it Herald could understand, as it was writing in an old human code that only KOS-MOS seemed capable of understanding, was a picture of what looked to be a core crystal, with gibberish coming off it, "What is this, KOS-MOS?"

The stoic battle android seemed to stare at the screen a moment, the numbers and hieroglyphics running across her eyes as she processed them. Then it seemed as if she smiled very lightly, "Exactly what I was looking for, Herald."

The pale purple haired Blade blinked, turning to her partner, "This is it?"

That odd smile did not leave KOS-MOS' face, as she moved past Herald to go to a command terminal, putting in codes and the depiction on the screen changed, "Indeed, it is," hitting a few more keys, the picture altered, showing the primary core crystal and then a string of gibberish, with depictions of Blades and Titans, "With this we will be capable of doing what is necessary to prosper on this new land."

Herald turned to her partner, looking at her for a long second before finally deciding what to say, "KOS-MOS, is this… right?"

The battle android stopped typing, staring at the space in front of her for a long second processing the question. When KOS-MOS finally decided on an answer, she actually turned back to her partner, the Blade that had followed her in her quest for this data since they were all but set free to roam Elysium at their leisure with the consent of their Drivers. For Blades, at least prior to Elysium, back in Alrest, time was something that had passed without consequence. Now, their time was short, and precious, and KOS-MOS could say that in some way she had enjoyed this time spent productively with the help of a like-minded Blade like Herald.

Holding out her gloved hand, KOS-MOS took the mecha-dragon's hand as Herald's own gripped air.

"I… hope… this is right." Shaking Herald's hand a moment, KOS-MOS let go and turned back to her work, "Without the conduit our immortality is in jeopardy. Without the Titans we have nothing to return to." Hitting a key, the screens all around them lit up, a stream of code running across the screen.

 _'Ye shall be as gods_ '

"With this, we may save our species."

* * *

All over Elysium, unique Blades had a momentary pause as their core crystals seemed to _blip!_

For most, this was just a momentary lapse, a curiosity but overall ignored and not mentioned again.

For a few it gave away their positions and they had to run from monsters or rogues.

For others it wasn't even noticed.

* * *

 **A/N:** 'Ye shall be as god' or 'Ye shall be as gods' are phrases that have been used throughout the series, namely as the code running across the screen in the intro to Xenogears when Deus awakens and KOS-MOS original's activation code... so CLEARLY it needs to be implemented here in Xenoblade in SOME fashion~ its tradition! 

now prepare for madness and Herald being oddly cute! :D

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	2. Congratulations! Its a Core Crystal!

**A/N:** just throwing more on this fire~ don't mind me~

Enjoy!

* * *

A few months later…

All over Elysium something strange started happening.

Unique Blades seemed to get ill, which was a first anyone had ever heard of Blades showing any signs of fragility. They seemed to get tired, weaker, lapses in Ether processing while their Ether consumption seemed to go through the roof.

Then people realized it was primarily the _Female_ Unique Blades that were showing these odd symptoms. Though there were a _few_ Male Unique Blades affected…

Mythra stood over the sink feeling dizzy, nauseous, with a headache as she was trying to not let the light from the window hurt her eyes. The light type Blade groaned, causing her sister Blade Pyra to rub her back in soft circles. "Vess!" Mythra laid her head down on her arms, just giving up on standing properly, "What the hell is wrong with me?"

The tall electrical Blade stood over the light half of the Aegis, arm propped with her other as she held her chin, "I'm not sure, this is rather strange…" there was a groan from another room in the mid-sized house, causing Vess to look back in that direction, "Perun has it worse than you, perhaps a further progression of… whatever this is?"

"MY LADY!" a cry came from that back room and the three female Blades in the common room rolled their eyes.

"Ugh, Father, someone tell that idiot Godfrey to get the hell out of here!" Mythra groaned again, raising her head, feeling like she was going to throw up and her head wasn't helping.

With a bit of a chiding laugh, Pyra patted her sister Blade's back, trying to sooth her, "He's just worried about Perun, you know that…"

"Freakin' ice type lunatics, justice freaks, ugh!" Mythra crouched by the sink, just hanging off and feeling terrible, "Ought to just get stuck in a glacier, the both of them…"

"There, there, be nice…" Pyra wasn't laughing, she swore she wasn't.

"My sweet warrior of JUSTICE!" was heard from the room, along with elaborate embracing.

The three female Blades in the common room just stared at the door the noises were coming from.

"If they keep this up, I will revive Siren and I will blow them up…" Mythra threatened darkly. At this point Pyra didn't even try to reprimand her sister. Perun and Godfrey could be surprisingly… saccharine at times.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Vess just sighed, ignoring the others, "All of us healer type Blades have been trying to figure out what this is, but as far as our healing abilities are concerned, this isn't something we can do anything about…"

Suddenly Mythra shot up and started coughing into the sink, seemingly dry heaving, "Ugh… goddamnit…" once done she went back to crouching, still feeling horribly sick, "I just want to know what this is and why I'm affect, I'm a damn Aegis for Father's sake!"

Vess just shrugged while Pyra kept trying to console her sister Blade.

"Yea, they're in here," a voice called out from outside as the door to the home opened, revealing the tall form of a very grown up Rex. In the years since they survived the fall of the World Tree, the Titans laying to rest, and the population of Alrest migrating to Elysium, Rex, Pyra and Mythra had returned to the land comprised of the remains of the Leftherian archipelago. The large Titan the smaller ones hovered around had died and joined the land of Elysium, but the smaller ones remained, floating around, like many of the smaller Titans leading many to believe that they were simply not large enough to return to the land of Elysium just yet. So Fonsett was still around, and Rex returned to it over the years, while also traveling around with Mythra and Pyra on Gramps, until the three of them decided they'd had enough. Zeke and Tora had come by to help Rex build their home, and the old group had gotten together in what felt like years to celebrate. The once boy was now a man, lean and strong, with a good build for salvaging, though Zeke liked to make fun of him for still being shorter than Morag.

He was a man, teaching the kids of Fonsett how to fight off monsters and what it takes to be a Driver, and telling all sorts of stories between his trips to salvage.

Though right now he looked frantic like he did as a kid, pushing the door open quickly, spotting his girls and Vess in the common room, as he held the door for someone else, "Hey! She's in here, see!" he waved the person in.

It turned out to be Brighid, the Jewel of the Empire of Mor Ardain. The tall blue flame Blade simply walked into their cozy home nonchalant, looking around, taking the place in, seeing what was different. It had probably been a year, or two, since she'd last come by when they built it, seemed the three of them kept it up well. Once her inspection was done, she turned to face the three Blades, Vess nearby while Pyra was trying to comfort a clearly sick Mythra.

Crossing her arms, and leaning to the side cockily, Brighid just smirked at the scene, "So, I see we aren't the only ones…"

"We?" the three female Blades turned to Brighid, mostly looking surprised, though Mythra was clearly glaring.

"MY GALLENT KNIGHT! YOU WILL SURVIVE THIS! I SWEAR IT!" came from the door to the side.

After a quick glance they mostly ignored it.

"Ah, I see, that's where Godfrey disappeared to," Brighid said coolly.

"Eh-heh," Pyra rubbed her head, "Yea, he just… sort of showed up… holding Perun… a while ago, after she started showing symptoms of this weird Blade illness…"

A smirk raised on Brighid's face, "It's not an illness."

"What?!" was the collective response of all of them.

Rex jumped in front of the blue flame Blade, "Brighid, what you mean by that?! You mean you guys in Mor Ardain, you figured out what this is!" he grabbed her upper arms, "You know how to fix this?!"

A gentle smile passed Brighid's face, as she easily removed Rex, "In a way," reaching into her pocket she removed something and revealed it to the rest.

It was a core crystal.

"What?" Rex looked at it confused. It looked like a core crystal, though there were a few design differences and the aura was the wrong color.

"May I see that?" Vess walked forward, examining the core crystal.

"I'd rather you not pick it up," Brighid said flatly, watching the electric Blade, "This is a rather… _special_ core crystal."

That caused the others to perk up and look at her questioningly.

Pyra looked her fellow flame Blade in the eye, "Brighid… where did you get that?" unconsciously her hand tightened on her sister Blade's shoulder, "I thought… with the conduit gone… the titans lain to rest…"

"That there would be no more core crystals?" a smirk raised on the blue flame Blade's lips, "That is what was assumed all over Elysium. The 'Price for Paradise' some have been calling It." her look turned serious as she looked to her fellow Blades, "In the years since Elysium was colonized, the World Tree fell, the conduit left, and the cloud sea disappeared, no new core crystals had been found, and many new, younger, common Blades have simply disappeared. Their core crystals fading, the light never returning…"

"My sister…" with a significant amount of effort, Mythra stood, raising her light gaze to the blue flame Blade, "Asked you a question," a smirk rose on her face, "You hothead."

Brighid just smirked wider, "I was getting to that, always so impatient…"

Leaning heavily on the sink, trying to keep the world from spinning, Mythra tried to give the most threatening grin she could, "Yea, well, kind of important to me too, this whole…" she waved her hand, referencing her state, "Thing."

Chuckling, Brighid nodded towards the core crystal, "This is the first new core crystal born in Elysium…"

"Obviously," Vess now had her arms crossed, glaring at the blue flame Blade, "Can we skip the theatrics, and can you explain what this has to do with this strange illness that's been plaguing-!"

Suddenly there was a loud feminine scream from the side room.

"MY LOVE!" then Godfrey was shouting.

Immediately those that could, ran to the room and looked inside.

Perun was laying on the bed, tired, sweating, while Godfrey was leaning over her, eyes wide as in his hands was what looked to be another core crystal. Like the one Brighid was holding this one looked a bit different, its light appearing frostier than any they had ever seen before.

For a good long second they all just stared.

Then Godfrey turned into a stuttering mess, pointing from the core crystal, to Perun, and back several times.

Vess rushed in to examine the ice knight, ignoring the Gormotti Blade as he was a gibbering mess now, just holding the core crystal like it was the most precious thing in the world to him and keeping his eyes on his lover. With as much strength as she could muster, Perun reached for Godfrey's hand, which he gallantly took, just staring at her with watery eyes.

"What the hell?" Mythra managed as Pyra had helped her towards the door. Next to her Rex and Pyra were just staring, trying to understand what was going on.

"Well," Brighid held up the unusual core crystal again, the aura around it taking on a brown and green hue, "That is how this core crystal came about…"

Light eyes stared, as Mythra looked from the core crystal to Brighid, "I still don't get it…"

"Oh my…" with her free hand Pyra raised her hand, staring wide eyed at her fellow flame blade.

"Hey, uh, I still don't get it?" Rex scratched his head, standing behind the three at the door and looking from one Blade to the next, "Can someone please explain?"

Pyra and Brighid shared a look before both sighed.

Thankfully Birghid wasn't above being a bit more blunt, "Rex," she turned to face the Driver, "This core crystal was born from Adenine, with Wulfric as it's, for lack of a better word, _father_ …"

"Wait…" Rex's eyes went wide, "What?!"

"It seems," Pyra adjusted her hold on Mythra, who seemed to have gone momentarily catatonic, "Somehow, us Blades have gained the ability to have kids like mortals… sort of…"

"That is the best way to put it," Brighid smirked, "though that's not the only effect noticed," slowly, dangerously, she turned to Mythra, "While we can now give birth to new core crystals when coupled with other Blades, and the gestation seems to take about a month, it seems that's not the only thing…"

"What?" Mythra blinked, staring at the blue flame Blade, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Well," Brighid fidgeted, looking from the light Blade to Rex, then back, "How do I put this…" another circuit of looks, hoping one of them would get it before she had to say anything, "When a Driver and a Blade now have… _relations_ …"

"Sex," Pyra cut in, looking at her fellow flame Blade flatly, "Just say sex, or they won't get it."

"Hey!" Rex and Mythra gripped at her.

Futilely Brighid tried to hide a snort, "Well, I was trying to be subtle about it," hiding her smirk from behind her hand did nothing, "But it seems that now when Drivers and Blades have sex, there is a chance whoever is the female in the relationship can get…" there was a bit of a wince on Brighid's face, knowing what was about to come when she finally said the word, "Pregnant."

Surprisingly no one said anything for a good long second, namely as they all just stared at Brighid.

After breaking the silence by coughing into her hand, Brighid rushed out, "NiagotLadyMoragpregnant…"

"WHAT?!" "HOW?!"

Closed eyes rolled as Brighid shrugged, "I am not going to ask details about such a private matter from my Driver…" they all glared at her, "But it was discovered some time ago, and after Adenine essentially gave birth… then Percival… we couldn't hold out on the conclusion with Lady Morag being sick, and after a physical, it was confirmed."

"How?!" Rex was just giving her the most confused look, "I would'a thought if anyone was the woman in that relationship it'd be Nia?!"

"Seriously," Mythra finally responded with something, "But, so, wait… does that mean… I'm…" her hand rose, pointing at herself as red climbed up the light Blade's cheeks. "Oh, sweet, merciful, Father… I am, aren't I?"

Brighid had the decency to look at the light half of the Aegis with sympathy, "You seem to be in a similar state as Pandoria, so we can only assume…"

"What?! Pandoria too?!" the three seemed to shout together.

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick," Mythra groaned. Thankfully Pyra took that as her cue to move her sister Blade back to the sink, too many reveals for now.

Brighid could only shrug, turning towards Rex, "No one has reported any Driver/Blade births yet, so we don't know what will be born," she sighed, running her hand through her hair, "Either a core crystal or a baby, but so far Lady Morag seems well and truly pregnant with a baby, though Pandoria and Mythra seem to only be having long term Ether drain and sickness…"

"So, no one really knows what's going on?" Rex was clearly talking to Brighid, but he kept looking back at Mythra. The young man was clearly worried about one of the women he loved.

A smile showed sincerely on Brighid's face, as she grabbed the young man's arm, turning him back to the room where Godfrey was elated, holding Perun as, while exhausted, she seemed to be happily snuggling in his arm, while they both held the new core crystal.

"So far there hasn't been shown to be any risks," Brighid crossed her arms, "Aside from a severe Ether drain, nothing fatal has been reported," nervously she scratched the side of her head, holding up the core crystal, "Adenine kept meticulous notes on the process, and after repeating it a few times with Wulfric we have a decent understanding of the effects and process…"

"Repeating…" a nice blush rose on Rex's cheeks, "You mean that core crystal's got siblings?"

"Two actually," Brighid looked away, "Not that any of us truly wanted to know, but the information has been valuable…"

Light eyes blinked on the young man, "And you said Percival also…" absently he pointed at the core crystal in Brighid's hand.

The blue flame Blade simply looked down to where he was pointing before nodding nonchalant, "Apparently he and Aegaeon have had a relationship for quite some time…"

Rex just faced forward, "Huh."

It was quiet for some time.

"By the way," Brighid interrupted, "Have any of you seen Herald?"

"Eh?" shaking his head, Rex turned to the blue haired woman, "No, can't say I have, why?"

Giving a long sigh, Brighid crossed her arms, "We have a theory how this may have happened…"

"Well, go on, share?" Rex nudged her arm, eager to hear what this was.

"KOS-MOS," Brighid said flatly, "She and Herald left some time ago, stating they were interested in finding old tech from the fallen World Tree," the blue flame Blade turned to Rex seriously, her brows low, "Next to Pyra and Mythra's true form, which they haven't been able to achieve since the World Tree fell, KOS-MOS was the only other known that could read the ancient texts or access that technology…"

Scratching his head, Rex just stared at Brighid, "Yea, but what's that got to do with all this?"

Brighid's shoulders sunk, sighing, "If anyone could do this, they'd need to get ahold of the Architect's technology, and somehow managed to alter it," she shook her head, "And the only one any of us could think of that could manage that, is KOS-MOS," then she turned to face Rex seriously, "And I don't want to think about what else that strange Blade is capable of getting up to with access to such power…"

For a moment Rex was quiet, thinking about the situation just as seriously as Brighid. Then a funny thought entered his mind and he couldn't help but snort, "Man, could you imagine if Bana could do somethin' like that?"

"Don't give me nightmares," for once in her life, the blue flame Blade shook as if cold.

"Right, right," Rex waved his hand, chuckling under his breath, "But seriously, why would she do something like… well, like _this_?!" he waved his hand between the room with Godfrey and Perun to Pyra messaging Mythra's back.

Brighid just looked the young man in the eyes, "I plan to ask her that, once I find her."

* * *

 **A/N:** i'm running with the idea that Blades just kind of 'wander off' when not in use, since the game makes it seem like they're ALWAYS out but the idea of 50-plus people just wandering around in a large group is silly, so i figure they just wander off and do their own things until 'summoned' or something~

doing any kind of timeline for this game would be killer thanks to all these weird mechanics and how the plot rushes along in the later chaps -shrugs- oh well...

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	3. Camping is a Nightmare

**A/N:** so the actual title for this chap is 'Camping with a Pregnant Woman is a Nightmare...' but FFN apparently won't let me put that much in (it cuts off at 'Night' and that's just weird) so the slight difference in title between here and over on AO3~

-tosses more on the burning pile-

Enjoy!

* * *

"HERALD!" a terrifying yell echoed around a certain set of mountains on the edge of the wilds of Elysium. "HERALD! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME YOU COME HERE RIGHT NOW! **_HERALD!_** "

"Morag, sweetie, my charming deadly kiwi…" a nervous voice called out from behind the Ardainian woman yelling her bloody head off.

" ** _HERALD!_** I AM YOUR DRIVER! **_COME HERE NOW!_** " Morag yelled with unbridled fury into the caverns around them.

Having enough, and sighing deeply, Nia just grabbed Morag's arm and pulled the woman away from jumping into some likely deadly cave, "Okay, that's enough of that, you shouldn't be stressing yourself so much in your condition…"

"Don't patronize me!" Morag snapped, not that she did much to remove the Gormotti Blade's grip on her arm nor resist as she was pulled back to their temporary camp.

"Dromarch!" Nia ignored her lover, calling to her primary Blade, "Ya mind?"

"Not at all, My Lady!" the white tiger smirked, laying down and seeming to will his fur to be fluffier, holding out his tail to guide the agitated Inquisitor, "Come here, Lady Morag, get comfortable and relax, you've had a long day."

Light brown eyes glared at the white tiger, then to his Driver, "The both of you," she seemingly said with contempt, even if she just held out her hand, holding his tail and let him wrap her in his fluffy appendage and lay down on the nice fuzzy tiger.

The two felines just smirked as the several months pregnant woman finally relaxed, at least a little.

"There, was that so hard?" Nia smirked with her hands on her hips, not minding the Inquisitorial level glare sent her way. She'd grown immune to that years ago. "Now I'll rustle us up something to eat…"

"I'm not hungry," Morag groaned from being wrapped up in Dromarch's fur.

"Yea, like I'd believe that for a second," Nia walked up to the two, kissing Morag on the forehead and rubbing the bump on her stomach. She couldn't help but smirk, not caring how this came about, just happy about it all the same, smiling in her lover's face despite how grumpy Morag looked, "See you two in a bit," then nuzzled her nose with Morag's before getting up and off into the woods to find something edible.

Morag just crossed her arms, sinking further into Dromarch's fur, knowing his tail was less there as a fluffy comfort and more of a means of tying her down so she didn't go off yelling for her Blade again.

They'd been out in the relative wilds of Elysium for a month. After Brighid got some leads from Azami, with some coaxing from Rex, who used her clairvoyant eye to figure out where KOS-MOS and Herald had run off to. All Azami could see was that they were in some base in a cave in the mountains in an uncharted portion of Elysium. It had been a start, at least.

Rex, Nia, and Zeke had sent out their available Blades, and the Garfront Mercenaries, all over trying to find this 'base' the two over-powered Blades had somehow built in their time off in the wilds of Elysium. So far, nothing. But then again some their strongest Blades had been waylaid by this new procreative ability.

So far, Adenine and Wulfric were working on their fourth core crystal, the odd wind Blade claiming they needed more data, not that anyone believed that. While Godfrey and Perun were trying to figure out what to DO with their core crystal, same with Aegaeon and Percival, and several of the others were tiptoeing around the topic, not sure what to think or do. Mythra was still pregnant, same with Pandoria, and not long ago they'd found out Pyra was too, but since none of them had produced core crystals, everyone was still on the fence, and betting, about what and who would pop first.

It was such a good thing Roc was single and in charge of the Garfront Mercenaries…

Then there was Morag, so far the only _known_ human to be knocked up by a Blade. The whole ordeal so far had been grating for the Imperial Inquisitor, especially the part where her brother had put her on _Maternity Leave_ , meaning she technically couldn't wear her uniform since she was off-duty and was supposed to be taking it easy. She hated it.

Nia had been shocked, at first, thinking Morag had slept with someone else. There had been a push two years ago for Morag and Zeke to be politically married, to build an alliance between Mor Ardain and Tantal, really it had been just an excuse to try and get an heir out of the two, but both refused. As Zeke put it, ' _It's like I'd be having sex with a man!'_ Morag's only complaint was that it would mean she _WOULD_ be having sex with a man. But half the reason that had been thrown, rather violently, off the table was because both Pandoria and Nia wouldn't hear it. The Blades could be very possessive of their Drivers, and the senators of Mor Ardain and King of Tantal learned just how scary they could be.

Suffice it to say, Nia hardly let Morag out of her sight after that, not that Morag minded. But when the pregnancy was discovered, the fragile water type Flesh-Eater was in a panic. It took Dromarch and Brighid several days to get her down from the roof of the palace, and with more examinations the doctor explained that the pregnancy was acting weird. All the Blades could sense it, like their Driver was drawing too much Ether whenever she used their weapons. Being defensive and possessive, Nia insisted Morag keep her crystal scimitar on her at all times, in case she needed to heal, even from a minor scratch, but mostly so the baby, that was clearly hers, would absorb mostly Ether from her weapon.

Morag found this helicopter attention from Nia both endearing and aggravating. Between Niall telling her she had to take _LEAVE!_ And Nia trying to be overprotective, it was no wonder the hormonal woman was twitchy and easy to anger. She'd been the defender her whole life, so it went against every instinct in her body to have _OTHERS_ protecting her.

But Brighid, Dromarch, and especially Nia insisted, so Morag had little choice… especially when they used her weakness to fluffy things against her. Being essentially tied to Dromarch's side with his tail had become a regular part of Morag's day.

The off-duty Inquisitor knew it was a blessing Nia and the rest of their Blades let her come along. They had all been acting weirdly protective of her, much to Morag's chagrin, but she would be going stir crazy if she were stuck in the palace. That, and they all admitted this grudgingly, the only person that could get Herald to come out of whatever hole she'd dug herself into with KOS-MOS, was Morag. The over-powered electric Blade was still very sensitive about her potential to go out of control, so had been relieved when she was allowed leave to just go off into the wilds as she pleased. KOS-MOS had, in theory, been there to deal with her should the worst occur, but as Brighid liked to sadly joke about, the two of them just encouraged each other. Herald followed KOS-MOS on her strange excursions, and KOS-MOS typically got them into some mess where Herald would use her power. So if they had any hope of finding them, they needed the pregnant Flamebringer.

As for finding KOS-MOS, Nia had tried, repeatedly, to call the odd Blade to no avail. KOS-MOS had always seemed strangely autonomous, she was fiercely loyal and protected everyone in combat, but when she wondered off on her own, she'd only return when her Driver was in danger, not necessarily when called. So while Herald had returned to the palace a few times in the past couple of years, KOS-MOS hadn't been seen since they left.

"Are you comfortable, Lady Morag?" Dromarch's smooth voice called to the dozing woman.

Light brown eyes opened, realizing night had descended around them, "Hm? Yes, Dromarch, as much as I can be…" Morag frowned, playing with a stray bang. She couldn't wear her uniform while off-duty, so wore a long white shirt over non-standard issue pants, giving up her military hat and gloves, but refusing on the boots. There were no insignias on them so it shouldn't be too bad. It felt strange to be so… exposed.

The large white tiger stretched out, bristling his fur a bit more and lightly squeezing Morag with his tail, "Mrgh, that's good to hear…" after the stretch he shook as much as he could, getting more comfortable, "You seemed quiet for some time."

"Just thinking," unconsciously Morag's hand dropped to her belly. She couldn't say she was displeased with this outcome, she could distinctly remember the night it must have been, when Nia showed a certain _interesting_ ability Blades were technically able to do. – _Titans are hermaphrodites after all…_ \- it made the Ardainian woman chuckle, Nia hadn't known she could do that and they'd experimented together. Looking down at her stomach, she wound up sighing while rubbing, "Who'd have thought this would be the result…"

Dromarch looked back, smiling, "My Lady is truly glad for this, Lady Morag."

"Now," Morag sulked, leaning back into the large white tiger, "At first she was freaking out more than I was, and I'm the one that has to carry… _this_." She waved her hand at the bump on her stomach. "Whatever... _this_ … is?"

"Yes, well," the big tiger ruffled his shoulders, "This is unprecedented, her reaction wasn't exactly unexpected…"

Running a hand through her hair, Morag just groan, "First she thinks I cheated on her, then that someone took advantaged of me," then with a heavy sigh, the Ardainian woman sunk further into the tiger's fur, "She never did accuse me of anything…"

"Hmhmhm," Dromarch's whole body rumbled as he chuckled, "Well, she trusts you more than she trusts herself, that's probably why it was so hard for her to consider: either you betrayed her or she failed to protect you." He looked back at the mortal woman sincerely, "As a Blade, and your Lover, both are ghastly conclusions."

Light eyes glanced back at the white tiger, "I'd never thought about it as her being a Blade," turning to face the stars, Morag felt for her adorable Flesh-Eater, "I suppose just the idea of either would have been that much worse since she's a Blade…"

"And you ARE her Driver," again, that deep chuckle as the big white tiger nudged the sulking woman, "Why do you think she was up on the palace roof for so long?"

"She had literally gone crazy?" Morag offered dryly, "I know I certainly did at the news…"

"Hah!" the big tiger barked, "That is probably the best way to put it," he glanced back, rubbing his tail tenderly around Morag, "But in the end she came down on her own, she couldn't stand the idea of leaving you alone anymore."

"I think that's the longest I'd ever slept in my life," Morag rubbed between her eyes, "I had honestly wanted to drink myself into such a stupor as to erase any of this had happened, but I couldn't in good conscious…"

"Well, that's good," Dromarch waved his tail again around the mortal woman, "I'm sure once this is all over with, everything will be alright."

"Will it?" for a moment, Morag looked terrified, "It's only assumed I'm having a baby. I could be about to give birth to the largest core crystal in all of Elysium. And if I do birth a child, will they be a Blade? A Blade-Eater? A Flesh-Eater?" the woman's pulse picked up as her hands tightened at her sides, "Nia's a Flesh-Eater, is that why this is different from the others? Or is it because I'm mortal? And if the child _IS_ mortal, why am I funneling Ether into them at such an alarming rate? Will they still be some strange part mortal part Blade mix?" by the end her hands were clutching around her stomach and she was just looking at it worried, "Am I going to die from this?" Morag had been told her mother died when she was born, what if the same happened to her?!

"Not if I have a bloody word to say about it!" looking up, Morag saw that Nia had come back, a sack full of ingredients and things to eat as the Gormotti Blade just stared at her fiercely with gold eyes.

"Nia!" all Morag could do was look at her lover, relieved to see her.

The elegant Blade simply walked forward, setting the sack down by the fire, then walking up to Morag, placing her had on the mortal woman's cheek, calming her with a touch and finishing up by leaning in and kissing her deeply. If it was in her power, she wouldn't let a damn thing happen to this woman.

Morag responded by raising her hand, reaching up to touch Nia's ear, and deepen the kiss.

A smirk rose on the Gormotti Blade's lips before she pulled back, putting her finger on Morag's lips before she could say any kind of complaint, "Save that for later," she winked at the Ardainian woman, making her blush, before lowering her hand to rub on Morag's stomach, "As for you, don't be such a pain on your Ma, got it!"

Light brown eyes rolled, "I doubt they're developed enough to hear you…"

"If they got my ears they damnwell ought to be," crouching down, Nia laid her head on the bump, moving her long cat ear around trying to hear anything out of place. She could pick up a heartbeat, just below Morag's, and that soothed her, "Now, shut it, both of you," turning, Nia kissed the bump, then Morag's lips quickly before getting up and going back to the fire and sack of ingredients, "Time to make the two of you food," a wicked smirk spread on her face, "Architect knows yer Ma couldn't cook to save her life!"

Crossing her arms in a huff, Morag just glared at the back of Nia's head. There really was nothing to argue, in the years since their journey, Brighid and Morag's cooking skills hadn't improved a bit.

Dromarch just shook his head, "That is unkind, My Lady."

"Shut it," Nia pointed behind her without looking, "You can't cook either!"

"Not due to a lack of ability," the big white tiger huffed, cursing yet again his lack of hands.

"There, there," showing a rare moment of sympathy, Morag just leaned into Dromarch's fur, rubbing him comfortingly.

The big cat sulked but just put his head down, letting Morag rest while his lady did the cooking. Both of them had their ears up, keeping well aware of their surroundings, in case something threatening showed up.

"Morag!" a willy Blade did not count as something 'threatening', much to Morag's chagrin when Nim popped up and immediately tried hugging her. The Phonex-like Blade seemed to realize what she did a second later, yelp, and pull back, but not for long as she was holding her Driver and looking her over, "Nothing broken? Nothing hurting? Is there anything we can do to help Morag!?"

"Nim, breathe!" Nia sent over her shoulder with a glare. She knew the earth type Blade meant well, but she could be so grating at times.

"Oh-oh! Right, yes!" Nim actually wound up holding her breath until Kit and Sunny started chirping at her, forcing her to gasp out loud, blink, and then grumble at the two Phonex-like dragon heads on her shoulders, "Kit! Sunny! I was trying to be quiet and calm for Morag!" her shushing them did very little to help.

The mortal Driver just sighed, grateful for Dromarch's support, "Nim, it's alright…" she held her hand out, waving the chimera-like Blade over.

Instantly NIm curled up on her Driver's side, her long haired tail curling up to cover them both, "I will keep you warm and safe, Morag!" bringing her hands up like and animal Nim covered her face, looking more like a puppy curling up under her master's arm than someone trying to protect her.

Nia sent the two a look, which Morag just responded to with a shrug, wrapping her arm around the anxious animal-like Blade, "Nim," she shook the earth type Blade, "Did you find anything?"

Nim just curled up into a tighter ball, shaking her head as she buried it in Morag's side, "N-no… we couldn't find a single sign of Herald, and the animals around here wouldn't talk to me, so I had no luck finding their base."

"There, there," Morag patted her Blade's shoulder, smiling gently at her, "You did good." Nim beamed under the praise, curling up next to her Driver.

"Man! We didn't have any luck either!" a boisterous voice called out, accented by a strange drum of thunder, "So we went off in that direction right, looking for Herald, trying to sense her out with lightning, but there was like, nothing! Bubcus! Squat! Nadda! It was discouraging, so we went off in another direction, trying to see if we'd find something, but that just lead to this dead end with-!"

"Kora!" there was a long suffering sigh as Nia just stared at one of her Blades, the excitable, and extremely chatty, electric type Blade was still going on, flanked by Electra, another electric Blade of Nia's and Finch, a bird looking wind type Blade of Morag's.

"Oh, uh, yea, right!" Kora look embarrassed, for all of a second, before warping next to Nia by the fire, smiling brightly as she sat on her knees, "We found nothing!"

The water type Blade rolled her eyes, watching as Finch and Electra cheered, the two childlike Blades warping next to Dromarch, Finch taking up the other side of Morag, as Nim glared and refused to move, and Electra just took her comfy seat next to Finch.

"We found nothing, not that I remember what we were looking for?" Finch looked cross eyed for a second before shrugging, giving up and laying her head on Morag's side, Electra parroting her and laying on top of her.

Now crowded, Morag looked at those around her and just sighed, shrugging when Nia gave her a look offering help, "Well, I'm glad you're all safe and sound…" Reaching around them, Morag just submitted to the obvious, she wasn't getting up any time soon, and the Blades were falling asleep, taking the time to rest.

Looking back at the scene, Nia couldn't help by find it endearing, her ears tilted back as a light smirk rose on her face.

"Ohmigawd that's so cute!" Kora rapid fire whispered to her Driver, "I mean, I've seen some adorable stuff, but that's just-!" when Nia just turned with a flat look, Kora closed her mouth, smiling, "Sorry, right, right, trying to keep things shorter!" the electric demon looked at the scene again, "It's still really cute!" she turned to her Driver, "You guys are going to be adorable parents!"

Nia just sighed charmingly, it was a cute scene, Morag trapped under a pile of young Blades and glaring at her because the Inquisitor just _knew_ they were calling her cute. Turning back to the fire, Nia couldn't help but smirk, "Yea, if that's how this all works out."

"Oh I'm sure!" Kora scooted closer to her Driver, again, trying to whisper, "KOS-MOS isn't the type to do something like this maliciously…"

Shoulders sinking, Nia deflated while stirring the stew, "Ever heard the phrase 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'?" the Gormotti Flesh-Eater knew whatever KOS-MOS did wasn't intentionally malicious, the Blade didn't have a mean bone in her body… she just tended to completely miss the point most of the time or failed to consider the real world consequences of her actions. – _Tell her 'I'm hungry' and she'll go drain an entire lake of fish, not caring about the ecosystem or the fact we can't eat all that in one sitting…_ \- like Herald, restraint was nearly a foreign concept to the battle android.

"We're back!" a melodious voice called to the group, followed by a stern, "Nothing to report, sir!"

Nia glanced up to see an adorable little girl with fluffy white hair being held up by a polar bear and a skimpy drill sergeant with strange disembodied arms floating at her sides, "Oh, Ursula, Newt, welcome back."

The cheery little girl just gave a sweet smile, before her polar bear just unceremoniously sat down, pulling Ursula into its lap, "Sorry, Nia, we couldn't find any sign of Herald or KOS-MOS."

"That's right!" Newt popped an inspection ready salute, one of her giant arms mimicking as she gave her report to the group, though it was clear she was speaking directly to Morag, "We couldn't find hide nor hair of those interlopers commander! But don't worry, we will get back to the front after chow!"

Morag had a funny look on her face, both endearing and long-suffering, "Report received, at ease Newt."

"Yes sir!" and the weird Blade just dropped in air, her summoned arms folding to make a seat, which she got comfortable in them.

Nia gave a deep sigh, spooning some of the stew into a bowl, "You'd think it wouldn't be this hard, between all the people we have lookin' for 'em, to find a giant dragon Blade and a battle android…"

There was a chuckle from the pregnant Inquisitor, "When Herald doesn't want to be found, it's hard to find her, seems that goes double when she's with KOS-MOS."

"Yea, well," gold eyes rolled as Nia got up, moving to hand the bowl to her lover, "Here, eat."

Multiple eyes were on the two as Morag tentatively took the bowl, partially because she was giving Nia the same grumpy look she always did when the Gormotti Blade was being assertive and they both knew she was right, and because Morag was crowded by other Blades and didn't want to spill anything on them.

Seeing the dilemma, Nia just frowned, looking down, "Oi! The lot of you, git!" it had become an unwritten rule, particularly for Morag's Blades, that when Nia said 'git!' you didn't argue and just moved.

Finch, Electra, and Nim all jumped up and scrambled around the fire with Kora. Finch and Nim may have sent back glares to the Flesh-Eater, but they quickly looked back at the fire when Nia turned on them, knowing they were being pouty. Electra and Kora tried their best to console the two beast-like Blades.

"Thank you," Morag said gratefully, both for the space and for the food Nia offered.

"Ey, don't worry about it," after handing her pregnant Driver the bowl, Nia unceremoniously plopped down, resting her head on Morag's stomach and rubbing it, content to listen to the both of them.

Morag just stared down at her lover, both finding it cute and annoying, "You're worse than all three of them…"

"Shut it," Nia had her eyes closed and wasn't listening to Morag, just content where she was.

The other Blades just looked at the two, some sighing, finding it cute, while the others just shrugged, grabbing food and taking the moment to rest before they went back out looking for their wayward Blades. Ursula had pulled out a Torigonda and started playing lightly, Newt had fallen asleep in her arms quickly after eating, Nim and Kora chatted by the fire while Finch and Electra played a few games.

This was the scene Brighid came upon as she returned to their makeshift camp with Agate and Gorg. Crossing her arms, the blue flame Blade smirked at the adorable scene, "I hate to interrupt," she looked around, watching as they all turned towards her, specifically Morag and Nia, "But we've found them…"

* * *

 **A/N:** Mama!BlueFlame here to fix everything! love ya Brighid! :D

my OTP is back! -hugs the kitty-waifu and woobie- mmmmmh, love you two~ still need to come up with a ship name~ Xinfo suggested 'Inquisitor Nyah' but i'd probably tweak that a bit to 'Inquisitor Niyah' since that was Nia's Japanese name and it just sounds hilarious~

but yes, this is based around my first run through of the game, where i played roulette with core crystals and STILL got most of them on Nia and Morag... i think the game was telling me something~ not just the crazy Yuri!Shipping!Googles ;P so they have a lot of help~

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	4. Black Boxes and Master Codes

**A/N:** FINALLY the OT-BAE-BLADE KOS-MOS has arrived! or been found! whatever! she got some explainin' to do!

ENJOY!

* * *

"HERALD!" " ** _KOS-MOS!_** "

The two Drivers were yelling at a large metal door buried deep in an out of the way cave system hidden in the mountains of the wilds of Elysium.

Morag was all for charging on ahead immediately, it took Nia and mostly her own Blades to get the Inquisitor to just stay down, eat and rest, while they planned something for tomorrow.

That plan went immediately out the window when Morag woke up, untangled herself from her lover, and various Blades, and marched with the help of Brighid straight for the two autonomous Blades' hidden base. The rest were stuck following as Nia angrily marched after her woman, more pissed that Dromarch hadn't gone with them, and that Morag wasn't using him as a means of transport.

There was a lot of eye rolling, on the way, and when the best they all could come up with was yelling at the big metal door it got worse.

So it came as something of a surprise when the giant metal door started to budge and Herald stuck her head out the side.

The large group of Blades and two Drivers stared.

Herald stared back, blinking once. "Morag. Nia." She seemed to look from one to the other, "Why have you come here?"

"Why have we come- _HERALD!_ " Nia stomped her foot, fur on end as she couldn't believe how oblivious this Blade could be at times, "Do you not see!" immediately the Gormotti Blade pointed back at the Ardainian woman, specifically at the obvious bulge on her stomach noting she was several months pregnant.

It seemed to take Herald a good few seconds to process what was in front of her, looking from Nia, to her master, to the rest of the gathered Blades, "Very well," she opened the door a bit more, "Morag, Nia, Dromarch and Brighid may enter," the seemingly emotionless Blade turned to the rest, "You stay out here."

"Awww, c'mon Herald!" Kora jumped up and down, "You can't just leave us out here!" there was a chorus of agreements.

The eyes on the dragon's head above Herald's own seemed to glow and she looked marginally angry, "They will not disrupt our work," she held out her hand, the black dragon arm following suit, a portion of its hand opening up and starting to glow, clearly some kind of weapon, "You will."

"Well, when you put it like that…" most of the Blades had their arms up in surrender. They were all fairly strong, but Herald was a step above even the Legendary Blades like Brighid and Dromarch, so what did Rare blades have against her. The crowd of Blades waved goodbye to their Drivers and their primary Blades, some almost expecting to return to their cores as soon as the door was closed.

Morag and Nia moved quickly while Herald crowded the door, making sure the rest didn't rush in. Dromarch and Brighid just glared at the 'younger' Blades for their lack of faith.

Once on the other side of the door Herald closed it, seemingly locking the large heavy steel door with a keypad on the side, before hovering in front of the four and leading them away, "This way."

Nia, Morag, Dromarch and Brighid took a moment to look around them. It was a large hollowed out structure, like the bunkers they'd found in the City of Morytha, and was filled with all manner of machines and artifacts from the old world.

"Herald, what… is all this?" Morag walked behind her wayward Blade, amazed by some of the things she was seeing. There were large constructs, like Artifices, and pieces of those Sovereigns from the top of the World Tree. Some even had parts that resembled Herald's dragon parts. It was fascinating.

"This is what we have been doing these past five years, since you and Nia gave us permission to explore the wilds of Elysium." Herald stated monotonously.

"Yea, but Herald," Nia looked around, these pieces, this scrap, all this… it looked like a graveyard and reminded her of Morytha. The Gormotti Blade stepped forward, grabbing Morag's hand, finding this all a bit creepy, "Why? Why have you two been out her collectin' this scrap?" her hand squeezed Morag's nervously, "What do you both plan to do with all this?"

Hovering in place, Herald paused, turning to the four of them slowly and looked perplexed, "We were only looking for information, there was no intent to revive any of this technology."

"Says you," Nia frowned, holding on to her lover while glaring at all the machines around them.

The pale purple haired Blade nodded, the dragon portion following her, "That is partly why we wanted as few people to know about this place as possible." She turned around, continuing to hover down the large open space, "Any technology we came across that seemed volatile or could be used as a weapon, we have dismantled and stored here, so if anyone found it, they would not be able to use it."

"Herald?" Morag looked at her Blade softly, both surprised by that response and somewhat proud of her for it.

"KOS-MOS…" Herald's voice trailed, "We started this, looking for information. She felt her form and technology were alien to this world, and sought to test that." The hovering mecha-dragon turned back to look at them oddly sincere, "She found some of her memories."

"What?" Nia stepped forward, shocked to hear such a thing, "What you mean she found some of her memories?!" when the mecha-dragon turned away, Nia grew frustrated, stepping forward angrily, "What did she find? Herald, answer me!"

"The truth, Master," another monotonous voice called out from down the path they were traveling. Seemingly at the center of the wide open bunker was a large system of consoles and screens, flashing on them were scenes of large robots, different from the ones around them, fighting off huge monsters in space.

KOS-MOS was standing in front of the console, her visor down, as her hands seemed to autonomously move along the holographic keyboard.

The group stepped forward, staring at the screens as they were clearly something KOS-MOS was trying to show them. There were static covered images of monsters fighting what looked like Artifices in space, on top of large ships with astounding power that fired huge lasers, similar to how the Titans fought. Other images flashed by, hazy unfocused or damaged images of people, what looked like another combat android and various other things passing by.

Letting go of Morag's hand a moment, Nia stepped forward and stood next to her Blade, "What is all this KOS-MOS?"

"Data, from a black box that contained no materials so far discovered on this planet." The battle android spoke monotonously.

Brows lowering, Nia turned to her Blade, "Why are you showing us this? What's it all mean, and what's it got to do with whatever crazy thing you've done?"

The visor covering KOS-MOS' eyes went up, she blinked and the images on the screens disappeared, shifting to one with a core crystal on them that looked like blue prints, "I… I just wanted to show you that master…" slowly, the artificial seeming Blade turned towards her Driver, red eyes looking into gold ones, "That Black Box holds schematics and data from a human civilization light years away."

A frown picked on Nia's lips, "Where'd you find this thing?"

Raising her hands, KOS-MOS covered the core crystal on her chest, "Inside me."

"WHAT?!" several people shouted, looking from KOS-MOS to the screens and back again.

The battle android just nodded, "it seems this Black Box is part of my schematics as a Blade, which were based off a piece of space debris that fell to this plant and was absorbed by the cloud sea. The nanomachines processed it and used it as a basis for my model." KOS-MOS hit a few keys on the holographic keyboard, and a picture of what looked to be something similar to her top half with one arm appeared, "This is the original model, I am simply a copy of its frame and consciousness that the system that created Blades could not properly digest, so produced a new, recreated form, nearly identical to the original."

Gold eyes blinked, looking from the grainy image to KOS-MOS and back several times, "Thass… really… really weird…" leaning in she noticed a few details of this so-called 'original' that was obviously the same design wise as their KOS-MOS, "Guess she was a Gormotti design? Is that why you get those ears when you use X-Buster?"

"Inconclusive," KOS-MOS quickly took the picture off the screen, "That version was designed by and off of the humans that managed to leave this planet and survive in space. The chronometer states this being was created at least four thousand years into their current time, though that does not account for how long she was held within the cloud sea, nor the time needed to process her date to create my form from the schematics stored within her data…" a few more button presses and KOS-MOS had four sets of blue prints on the screens.

"These…" Morag stepped forward, surprised but what she was seeing, "Now, I'm no expert, but they look similar to Poppi's schematics Tora and his family had been working on…"

KOS-MOS just nodded, "Considering the origin is human, it stands to reason development would be along similar lines. Another theory is that some time in Tora's family history, an ancestor of his came upon the remains of this battle android and developed the schematics from there."

"You haven't found the remains yourself?" Nia looked at her Blade concerned.

"We have not." Herald was the one to respond. While her features appeared neutral, both Morag and Nia could almost see something that looked like remorse on the Mecha-Blade, "We have managed to salvage exorbitant amounts of ancient human technology from this planet, but nothing so far that appears to be the remains of that foreign battle android."

"It is not important." KOS-MOS cut in, shifting around the screens again, "By examining this data, how it functions, and how our own development was formed, along with the remains of the Architect's control module, I have been able to dismantle some of the code used to create Blades."

"Dismantle?" Morag raised a brow, staring at the android.

"Yea, that doesn't exactly sound… pleasant," Nia flatly glared at her Blade.

KOS-MOS turned to the two Drivers, "It was merely by this process I have gained access to the core code, that which created us and allows or limits our functions."

Morag and Nia shared a look, the Gormotti Flesh-Eater animatedly shrugging as both clearly they had no idea what that meant.

The Inquisitor just sighed, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we should have brought Tora…"

"Yea," Nia's ears dropped flat, annoyed, as she crossed her arms, "That lil' furball would understand all this mumbo-jumbo KOS-MOS is spouting…"

Red eyes went from one Driver to the next and something seemed to run across KOS-MOS' eyes, "Very well, I will clarify," again, hitting buttons on the holographic keyboard, a new picture appeared on the screens.

"That's-!" Brighid gasped behind them.

"Indeed," Dromarch sat down staring at the screen, "That is the glyph from Torna, the one that showed their religious beliefs about the Titans' life cycle. How we are born of Titans as core crystals, we live as Blades, then return to the Titans to grow and be nurtured into new ones."

"Precisely," KOS-MOS' monotone cut in, "This rudimentary drawing is a roadmap of the processes that take place, between the Titans, Blades, and even all other life that existed in Alrest." Hitting a few buttons she moved a blue-print looking diagram next to the Tronan glyph, "The process is missing a few key pieces, but overall it is fairly accurate."

"This is information you found in the 'core code' you discovered?" light brown eyes moved from the screen to the battle android, unconsciously Morag also lowered her hand, cupping around the swell of her stomach.

KOS-MOS did not miss a thing, "Yes. This data is a part of the core code of us Blades. The Architect explained that we were all created from the cloud sea, a vast sea designed to annihilate the ancient world, break it down to data, then recreate it as the Titans, where then life would begin anew, evolve and flourish." Looking back at the screen, referencing the blue print, "Blades were made with a separate life cycle to the rest of Alrest, we were created to collect data on those we were partnered with, our Drivers. All that data was processed and maintained by the Aegis system."

"Which no longer exists," Morag frowned. Sensing the woman's distress, Nia grabbed her hand.

"Yes." KOS-MOS nodded without turning to them, "Without that system, without the conduit to power it, and without the mature Titans for core crystals to return to, Blades are effectively at a process standstill."

Lacing her fingers with Morag's, Nia looked down, "Without the Titans to return to our memories can't be… uploaded to this thing? Which doesn't exist anymore?" Nia raised her head, looking at KOS-MOS sternly, "Is that why the common Blades, why they're disappearing and their core crystals aren't lighting up again?"

"Yes." Again KOS-MOS nodded, "From the data input, without anywhere for the data to go, further commands and development cannot progress. Without the conduit to power this endeavor, the core crystals cannot be reinitialized." For a moment she looked down, looking almost sad, "Blades are an incubative state for Titans. They are not considered 'Mature' by the code standards. Only the ancient continent sized Titans had the codes to produce offspring and continue the cycle. The smaller Titans that still exist are effectively inert, unable to produce core crystals in the quantities needed, and without the power of the conduit or the control of the Aegis system will not further develop." Mechanically she turned towards the Drivers, "The common, underdeveloped Blades do not have the memory allocation to create new forms for themselves, to 'fully mature' by Blade standards, on their own. So when their data capacity is filled, they return to their core crystals as programmed, but without a system to process that data and upload new initialization codes, their memories go nowhere and their core crystal remains inert."

"So yer saying, this is the end of Blades?" a fierce frown crossed Nia's face, clearly upset by what her Blade was explaining. She didn't understand it all word for word, but the basic concept was there, "Without all that techno-junk the Architect had, we're just going to disappear into the Ether when all's said and done?!"

For a very long second KOS-MOS just stared at her Driver, "You are a Flesh-Eater, your data is already corrupted by biological interference, when your core crystal ceases, your information disappears as it would be too corrupted to return to the system," KOS-MOS watched as her Driver clinched her teeth, as she pushed down the response she wanted to scream, and how Morag, the mortal Driver, held her hand, giving her such a genuine look of concern. "Tell me, Master, if given the opportunity, would you wish to avert this process?"

"Of course I bloody would!" Nia snapped at her seemingly oblivious Blade, "Why wouldn't I? What's the point of living as long as I can if it just goes to waste in the end!" gripping the woman's hand in her own, Nia turned back to Morag, tears rushing to their edges as another idea popped up, "What's the point of continuing on, if the ones I love aren't there? If the memory of them just disappears…" unable to contain herself, Nia reached out and hugged Morag tightly, burying her face in the woman's chest.

Morag had nothing to say, just holding her lover, stroking her ears back and holding onto her. They had avoided the conversation about their inevitable separation. Morag was mortal, she knew that, her life was significantly short compared to Nia's, while Flesh-Eaters, they were seemingly immortal, so long as they weren't killed, but unlike other Blades they could not be reborn. Their mortality was something neither truly wanted to consider.

Again, KOS-MOS watched the two interact carefully, processing the information and its possible outcomes and meanings intently. Her red eyes lowered to Morag's abdomen, "This development is a result of your coupling with Morag, Master?"

Red rushed on both their faces, but Nia turned on her Blade quite angrily, "What'cha think?!" for a good second Nia fumed, glaring at the battle android while defensively holding her lover's hand, only continuing when she'd calmed down enough, "Which happens to be the reason we came to find you, and after all this gibberish you been spouting, it only helped solidify my opinion you have something to do with all this, KOS-MOS?!"

Red eyes blinked, "Interesting." Seemingly ignoring her Driver's outburst, the Blade went back to her screens, inputting data as new figures and charts appeared on the screen.

"KOS-MOS," Morag was the one to call to the android-esque Blade. She was holding Nia back from another outburst, but even the Imperial Inquisitor had her limits.

"I am processing this new data and analyzing possible outcomes, a moment." was the monotonous response.

Brows rose and catlike ears went back, staring at the battle android.

"I see, interesting." KOS-MOS finally stopped typing, "This is a most fascinating outcome." Turning to the two Drivers, the pale blue haired Blade glanced from one to the other, then to the bump on Morag's stomach, "This is a process I had not considered."

"Say wut?" gold eyes flatly glared at the battle android.

Tilting her head, KOS-MOS continued to stare, "The propagation code, PROJECT NOAH, had been in place in the Blade core code as a failsafe, in the event too many Titans were terminated. The Architect had designed a function for Blades to propagate other core crystals, similar to biological sexual reproduction, but the code had simply remained false, inactive. Without command input it would have remained inert."

"After finding out the data about her own Black Box, KOS-MOS has been searching for the command code amongst the rubble of the World Tree." Herald interjected.

"Indeed, with it, I have managed to discover several hidden functions to Blades, such as limiters, the stages of Blade development, and the processes input to creating a Unique Blade," closing her eyes KOS-MOS seemed to almost sigh, "These processes are capable from any 'Mature' Blade, as a part of the failsafe." Opening her eyes, she looked at her Driver, "I merely activated it as a means to allow us Blades a means to continue on as a species."

"So, you didn't know it would do… _this_?" Nia waved her hand between herself and Morag.

KOS-MOS seemed to just blink, staring at them, "No."

"Oh for the love of…" immediately a clawed hand ran down Nia's face and her ears were flat on her head. She had truly no words.

"There, there," Morag patted her lover's shoulder, trying to ignore the smirk trying to rise on her lips. This was a rather funny result.

"The code did not account for intermingling of Drivers and their Blades," for a moment it seemed KOS-MOS was pondering, "Though, I doubt this code also accounted for the fact all life resulted on Alrest, be it biological or Ether generated, stems from the same nanomachines the cloud sea was formed of, thus allowing for an adaptive margin of error…"

"Sooo…" Nia glared flatly at her Blade, "That means we can interbreed?"

"Apparently." Was KOS-MOS' clipped response.

Nia had her head in her hand again, grumbling.

Morag on the other hand looked curious, "This… attribute, would it also account for Flesh-Eaters and Blade-Eaters?"

KOS-MOS turned to the inquisitor, "Yes, that seems the most logical course. The core code is stringent and any alteration affects all Blades, but the nanomachines all life in Alrest developed from was extremely adaptable. A necessity required to ensure life would continue. It stands to reason that input is the cause for both Blade and Human ability to adapt portions of each other's data into their own body and continuing on… but it also results in a critical error function."

"Sooo…" gold eyes blinked, trying to process what was just said, "You sayin' I'm the only one that could knock her up?" Morag swiped at Nia's shoulder but the Gormotti just shoved back, "What, hey? It's a valid question?!"

Light brown eyes just flatly glared knowing that wasn't true.

"That is incorrect," KOS-MOS responded flatly, "With this new input of data, it is likely the activation of the PROJECT NOAH program has had an unintended result. It makes Blades receptive to data transfer, allowing for their creation of new core crystals based on data input, but with a biological input it seems to have a similar intake of information. The results could be a further data randomized core crystal or, given enough input, a new biological lifeform."

One of Morag's gloveless hands covered her eyes, "None of this is making me more comfortable."

"There, there," it was Nia's turn to pat her lover's shoulder, though she seemed less sincere, finding Morag's anxiety a bit adorable.

"This outcome is most fascinating, Master, is it the only one?" now KOS-MOS was leaning over, looking directly at Morag's baby bump.

The Inquisitor was glaring between her fingers.

Nia was trying not to smirk, holding the taller woman around her back, trying to keep her comfortable, before addressing her Blade, "Far as we know, though I doubt there are many Flesh-Eaters or Blade-Eaters around to mess with this… _function_ of yours."

"Indeed," KOS-MOS stood, facing her Driver, "I will accompany you from now on."

"Ey?!" "What?!"

"KOS-MOS?" out of all the exclamations of shock, Herald's calm call to her partner was the most telling.

Turning to look over her shoulder, KOS-MOS seemed to give the large mecha-dragon Blade a kind smile, "I wish to see how this turns out, do you not Herald?"

The pale purple haired woman on the large Blade blinked, "Yes, I would like to," hovering closer, she lowered as much as possible to get as close to Morag as Herald dared, given all the information she knew now, "There is a draw," raising a hand, she flexed it, the mechanical arm repeating the gesture, "Ether is being transferred from me to my Driver."

"That is to be excepted," KOS-MOS stood straight, eyeing the mortal Driver and over-powered Blade, "The process of creating a new core crystal requires a significant amount of Ether energy to complete, a drain on the parent Blade and the environment would be expected. Therefore it stands to reason a similar effect would occur in a cross-mingling of data…"

"We'll feed her more," Nia grumbled, putting her arm protectively over Morag, specifically her stomach as she flatly glared at the two weird Blades, "But you sure about this KOS-MOS, giving up all this," nudging her head around, Nia referred to the base around them, "Just to come watch Morag be a bit crabby while pregnant."

"You're sleeping on the floor tonight," Morag grumbled, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"We both are," Nia absently pat her lover's arm, amused by Morag's attempt at a threat. Even if they left now it would take them at least a week to get back to known territory, let alone the capital of Mor Ardain.

KOS-MOS gave a firm nod, "For now, I have learned as much as I can from the data Herald and I have collected." Red eyes looked directly into her Master's gold ones, "If I wish to study the effects of the PROJECT NOAH code further, to help in improving our chances of surviving, both Blades and Humans, it would do well for me to see this results."

Gold eyes just flatly stared at the strange Blade, then sighed heavily, "Adenine is going to have fun with you around…"

"Herald?" Morag turned to face her Blade, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, Morag," the large Blade nodded… then surprised everyone by hovering forward, grabbing Morag and picking her up bridal style, holding her close in a four armed embrace, "Now, if you do not mind, you should not be moving around so recklessly in your condition. I will carry you from here."

There was a distinct groan from the mecha-dragon's arms.

Nia just chuckled, crossing her arms as she stood with KOS-MOS, "I been telling her that since we got out here, but she kept refusing to ride on Dromarch."

"You have mentioned his fur is rather scratchy more than once, Master." Was KOS-MOS' dry response.

"Heh," Nia smirked, hopping on her miffed tiger Blade, and looked back at the battle android, "Ey, c'mon, let's get back before Morag has Herald give 'er her Ether Cannon and blow up something important."

"One moment," KOS-MOS had her visor down and was running her hands along the holographic keypad at lightning speed. Lights all around the underground base started to turn off, systems nearby dimmed, and one by one the screens started shutting off. With one final blip, KOS-MOS removed something and placed it in a slot in her leg, the remaining system shutting down. When her visor lifted up she was walking away, following her Driver out of the base.

* * *

They were about a day away from the base when Nia finally had the thought to ask.

"So, ey, KOS-MOS," she nudged her light Blade who was sitting next to the camp fire. Herald was across from them, still cradling Morag, the off-duty Inquisitor having fallen asleep already since there was nothing else she could really do. Their other Blades had gone ahead, running off when Herald gave them a scary look as she refused to let go of her Driver, only Dromarch, Brighid and KOS-MOS had remained. But with those two occupied, Dromarch and Brighid sitting nearby on guard, Nia decided to ask KOS-MOS something that had been bugging her, "When we left that base of yours, you shut everything off right? What'll happen if someone tries to get inside it? Check out all the stuff you and Herald been collecting there?"

"A minor singularity will be released in a controlled burst for approximately 0.035 seconds, resulting in the complete annihilation of that mountain range and anything within the base." KOS-MOS stated monotonously.

"Says it like it's the bloody weather," Nia's ears drooped, flatly staring at her Blade.

"Though that is a possibility we will not have to worry about." The battle android continued.

That caused a cream colored grey brow and Gormotti ear to raise, "Oh? What makes you say that?"

Before anyone could respond there was suddenly a bright flash behind them, a huge orb seemed to appear in the sky long enough to be seen then blipped out of existence. Looking back behind them, as Nia had stood up in surprise, she, Dromarch and Brighid were shocked to see that the mountain range they'd been in yesterday had been wiped off the map.

KOS-MOS, who hadn't moved from her spot and was sipping some campfire tea, looked nonplused, continuing from where she left off, "Because I had set a timer to activate the system once we were at a safe distance."

"Wha-?! You?! Tha-?! Jus-?! WHAT?!" Nia was facing the destroyed mountain, pulling on her ears and at a loss for words.

Morag had woken up with a jolt from the sudden shouting. Sleepily she looked from Nia frantically trying to find words, Dromarch and Birghid standing next to her staring into the empty distance, KOS-MOS drinking tea, and finally to Herald who just looked down at her with a placid look.

Light brown eyes blinked, "Failsafe device?" Morag rubbed her eye, "Destroyed the base to prevent anyone from attaining the technology there?"

The pale purple haired woman nodded, the mecha-dragon head above her own mimicking the motion, "That is an accurate summation, Morag."

With a yawn, Morag nodded, "Very well," she rolled over as much as she could in Herald's arms, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Morag."

* * *

 **A/N:** Remember, Nanomachines fuck up EVERYTHING!

so this is basically why i started writing this... just A LOT of weird ideas at 3am! namely that without the whole system that regulated Blades, their regeneration, their power source, and the Titans that gave them life, HOW THE HELL WOULD THEY CONTINUE ON?

so taking a page from Deus' book from Xenogears the answer is NANOMACHINES! dumb, dumb, stupid 'we only propagate and adapt' Nanomachines... and a silly base program the Architect left 'off' for a reason ;P

when turning a 0 to a 1 messes up EVERYTHING! Thanks KOS-MOS!

also yes, those are references to Xenosaga from KOS-MOS' memories and the whole Black Box stuff~ cause trans-dimensional-shenanigans and the Zohar~

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	5. KOS-MOS makes the rounds

**A/N:** AND I'M BACK! :D

okay, so i'll be bringing over the rest of this from AO3 because i updated and its been highly requested~

so to not take up so much time~

ENJOY!

* * *

By the time the group of Blades and two Drivers made it back to Mor Ardain, several more developments had occurred.

Zeke and Pandoria had an adorable little girl they named Pyrrha, for her red hair… and red core crystal… and red lightning. She was born like a normal human child, just with a core crystal infused to her chest, and when Zeke held his daughter a large shield manifested out of the Ether and dropped next to him, shocking him and cause him to nearly drop the baby, thankfully Pandoria saved her. Wrapping her up in the royal colors of Tantal, they laid Pyrrha out on her shield, it works as a magnificent cradle and people repellent, since anyone that got too close to it that weren't her parents tended to get shocked with red lightning.

By the time KOS-MOS got to Tantal to examine their new princess, the child had seemingly grown in a month's time the amount a normal human child would in a year. She was already up and running around, driving most of the residents of the Royal castle up the walls. Especially since she figured out that thanks to the still cold temperatures of Tantal she could use her shield to slide down all the stairs with ease. It was something of a nightmare. Zeke couldn't more proud of his daughter.

KOS-MOS examined the girl closely, somehow accessing her data from the core crystal in her chest, and found out a number of interesting anomalies. By all rights, Pyrrha was a born Blade-Eater, and since her body wasn't at its optimum form for handling the Ether flows around her, it had gone into a form of hyper growth. KOS-MOS estimated she would probably be full grown within two years, and once her peak state is achieved her aging would be halted thanks to the adaptive programs attributed to Blade-Eaters.

Gathering as much data as she could from Pandoria, KOS-MOS headed to her next target: Fonsett.

Mythra had given birth not long after Pandoria, griping about being second, with Pyra a few weeks later.

They were both staring at their kids, not sure what to think about them when KOS-MOS finally showed up.

"Is something the matter?" KOS-MOS asked bluntly, coming up behind the two Aegis Blades.

"No… not really… I think?" Mythra was crouched over looking at her daughter. Like Pyrrha who had grown significantly in a month, this girl, named Ethos by Mythra, had grown enough to be standing up… with the help of her weapon, a large shield hammer. For all intents and purposes she looked like a mini-Mythra, only her hair and eyes were more orange with bits a pieces of armor seeming to be in development around her, specifically a ribbon that floated around her shoulders. She had a core crystal, like Pyrrha, but she didn't seem to be a Blade-Eater.

KOS-MOS crouched next to the girl, staring at her core crystal and sifting through the data she could, "Earth type, Tanker, Shield-Hammer, interesting." Then she rose, continuing to look at the girl, "It seems she is a Blade, an Aegis level Blade, which may account for her ability to grow."

"So, like, she's okay? Nothing to worry about? No corruption or anything?" Mythra was clearly anxious, worried for her daughter.

KOS-MOS just looked from the Ethos to Mythra, "There is nothing wrong I can see with her program, though her development is puzzling, same with her type. Perhaps human data simply randomizes the production values, but why were they born if they are Blades and not produce a core crystal?"

"Maybe they're Blade-Eaters? Isn't Pandoria's baby basically that?" Mythra had crouched next to her daughter, absently rubbing her head and the girl just seemed to lean on mother and yawn.

"The data does not show any indication of that designation," was KOS-MOS' quick response.

"Eeerrrgh," Mythra just flopped down on the ground, much to Ethos' amusement as she squealed and laid out on her mother's stomach. Light eyes looked down at her orange colored doppelgänger and Mythra couldn't help but smile, grabbing her daughter under her arms and lifting her in the air before bringing her close to her face to touch noses, "Why's this gotta be so confusing, huh? Yea?" she was speaking in an abnormally high pitched voice, confusing the battle android, but Ethos just seemed to cheer with each up, down and word spoken, "That's right! Mommy has no idea what all this means! No she doesn't!"

KOS-MOS just stood there staring at the display.

"It's really weird, isn't it?" Pyra came up next to the other light type Blade, watching as her sister Blade was laying on the floor being silly with her daughter, "I don't think anyone expects weirdly doting mother when they see the Aegis from 500 years ago…"

"It is strange," turning KOS-MOS looked at the fire type Blade, noticing she was holding a blue haired baby boy up to her shoulder, "May I?"

"Hmm?" Pyra blinked, then looked to her son, "Oh, yes, of course, that's why you're here, right?" lowering her son from her shoulder she held the boy out so KOS-MOS could take him and examine him.

The battle android did not move to touch the boy, simply crouching enough to stare him in the eye. He was recently born, so still retained a baby's form, with a tuff of dark blue hair and wide light blue eyes. He stared at this new Blade in front of him, blinking while sucking on his pacifier. KOS-MOS raised her hand to tap the core crystal on his forehead, a bright blue color as well.

"Water type, Healer, Bitball," KOS-MOS remained crouched, staring at the boy, "His features are remarkably similar to Rex."

"Isn't he!" Pyra almost squealed, crouching in front of KOS-MOS and holding her baby up, having him try walking, "Not quite there yet little guy, but I'm sure you'll get it soon enough," after a few steps he got fussy and Pyra put him down. Quickly the little boy crawled his way over to a Bitball and just seemed to curl around it, eyes closing and pacifier still as he seemed to go to sleep.

Pyra just propped her elbows on her knees and supported her head, keeping an eye on her little boy, "After Mythra called her little girl Ethos, I couldn't help this pull to call him Logos," those red eyes of hers traveled to KOS-MOS, watching as the battle android also seemed to be watching, "Seemed, kind of appropriate."

KOS-MOS had no response to that, simply standing up. From their conversation with the Architect, and the data she had gathered, Logos was the true name of Malos. From the data she had of ancient human civilizations, the other two names also had some connection to this name, forming a trinity. "Ethos, Logos…" he red eyes turned to Pyra, something akin to curiosity in her eyes, "Where is Pathos?"

"Uh, pardon?" Pyra just looked at the Blade confused.

"Nevermind," KOS-MOS looked around the cozy home, landing on Mythra as she got up, seemingly playing with her daughter by approaching her while poorly simulating a monster, only for the girl to run off screaming.

"Ethos!" the blonde Blade called, getting up and sighing heavily, "One of these days I'm getting you to attack the monster!"

Pyra just flatly stared at her sister Blade, "She's still too young for that, you know it…"

Mythra could only pout, cocking her hip and staring at the two, "Alright, KOS-MOS, you got what you wanted? Seen our kids, taken your data, anything else?"

"There is one other matter I would like to determine," both halves of the Aegis just gave each other a look before shrugging.

"Sure." "Shoot!"

"Please stand closer together," KOS-MOS waited for the two to stand next to one another, eyebrows raised, "Now hold hands," looking at one another, Mythra and Pyra held out their closes hand and their brows rose even higher. Before Mythra could even open her mouth to make a comment, KOS-MOS was giving them a final instruction, "Now transfer data between one another."

"Wait, what?" the light type Aegis had her head tilted, her free arm on her hip and looking like KOS-MOS was crazy, "It almost sounds like you're-!"

Ignoring Mythra's skepticism, Pyra had drawn Mythra's captive hand to her core crystal and concentrated on what KOS-MOS said, transferring data. Most Blades' could not access their data, let alone another's, so freely, but as an Aegis, a part of the core command system, they had free reign over their data better than anyone else did. So, in a way, this was easy for Pyra, even if she didn't fully understand what KOS-MOS was getting at.

After a second, Mythra realized what Pyra was doing, "Hey, wait-!" but there was a large Ether build up, a draw, and in a spectacular blast of light, a surge from Pyra's core crystal jumped through Mythra's body and went straight for her core crystal. The shock sent Mythra several feet away and thrown over the sofa.

For a second, Logos jolted, opened his eyes, seeing the scramble of the adults, then slowly drifted back to sleep on his ball.

"Oh, Father! Mythra! Are you okay?!" immediately the fire type Blade was on the sofa looking over it to see how her sister Blade was doing.

At the same time KOS-MOS had calmly walked around to see the results.

"AAARRRGGH! WHY?! WHY ME AGAIN?! UUUUGH…" Mythra was on her hands and knees, hitting the floor with her fists as a wave of nausea and heavy Ether drain hit her body, "Didn't even get foreplay this time…"

Pyra winced, hand covering her mouth, "Sorry?"

Mythra was apparently pregnant again, only this time with a forced data transfer, something only the Aegis could do, KOS-MOS surmised. Since the data was concentrated, and between two Blades that shared the same core crystal, the development process proceeded at a rapid pace.

By the next morning, Mythra was exhausted and holding a baby with teal hair, eyes and looked suspiciously like they did when they were merged and unlocked all of their abilities. With her head on the pillow she just groaned, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you so much…"

Pyra just smiled down at their daughter, playing with her fingers, "Aw, but she's so cute… aren't you just so cute, like your moms!"

"Hate! All my hate!" Mythra grabbed the closest pillow and put it over her face.

KOS-MOS stood nearby, having observed the whole process, "Fascinating," she stepped forward, looking the baby Blade over, particularly the unique shape of an Aegis core crystal in her chest, "It seems my hypothesis was correct, not only are two Aegis capable of procreating by simple rapid data transfer, but the result is another Aegis, your third form it seems."

"Great! I just gave birth to myself, after getting forcefully knocked up by myself, this is just wonderful!" Mythra screamed into the pillow.

Pyra just picked up the baby Aegis, holding her over her shoulder, as the red head nudged KOS-MOS to leave the room with her, "I think she needs a moment," there was a laugh, Pyra finding Mythra's angst amusing, but she did truly feel for her sister Blade, "So, I guess this is our Pathos?"

"It would be appropriate," KOS-MOS looked over the female blade and the newborn, "Aegises still hold such strange powers, perhaps it has something to do with your unique core crystal," she nodded down to the woman's chest, where the emerald core crystal was imbedded, "it resembles the conduit, perhaps it is still connected to it?"

"That would be something, now wouldn't it?" with a slight smile, Pyra nodded to KOS-MOS, "now, I hope that's everything, I've got to figure out a way to apologize to her for this… and how to explain to Rex when he gets back why we have a third child…"

"That is all," KOS-MOS nodded curtly, "This data has proven invaluable."

* * *

By the time KOS-MOS returned to Mor Ardain everyone was up in arms and running around like crazy. It seemed a coronation was to be held, a superfluous ceremony for the Emperor. From the information KOS-MOS obtained by walking through the palace it seemed the young Emperor was announced to be engaged to a princess of Uraya, a granddaughter of Queen Raqura's, and was intended to halt any further hostilities between the two nations.

"Six years and you lot still find reasons to point guns at each other, sheesh," Nia whined, standing behind Morag as she was seated in front of the vanity in their suite in the palace. Appearing in her Driver form, the young Gormotti woman was simply brushing her lover's surprisingly long hair, enjoying the calm moment while the rest of the palace was going crazy.

"Indeed," Morag just leaned to the side on her arm, tired as usual. These days with the continued pregnancy, edging into her ninth month, it was just trouble standing up, let alone taking care of herself or moving around. Everything ached, everything was sore, her stomach had increased to a size she never thought possible, and Nia wouldn't stop showering her with some manner of praise to try and get her mind off how much training she'd have to do to be fit for duty once this was all over. "Well, the idea is that with Niall marrying… what's her name?"

"Raquel?" Nia raised a brow, her ears quirking in a way Morag could see from the mirror meant she didn't really have a clue.

With a chuckle, Morag shook her head as much as she dared while Nia was brushing her hair, "In any case, this is a political marriage, hoping to sway the Senators to ease off their aggressive stance, and for Uraya to back off as well," the Inquisitor just sighed, "Why we're still fighting over sunken land when there's all of Elysium to explore, I have no idea…"

"Like I said," Nia leaned down, running her fingers through Morag's hair, looking at her with a smirk through the mirror, "Any excuse to point guns at each other," leaning just a bit she kissed Morag on the cheek, making the pregnant woman smirk, hand raised and cupping Nia's white mark cheek to her own.

"I'm sure there's a phallus joke in there somewhere," the Inquisitor smirked, chuckling lightly in her throat as she turned slightly, nuzzling her lover.

"Oh yea, just the whole big guns and shooting stuff," Nia had her arms around Morag's shoulders, slinking lower as she tried to be as close as possible. One hand on Morag's other side, teasing her chin to move towards Nia's own, saying the words to her lips, "Can't imagine what any of that suggests," and she stole a kiss from the vulnerable Inquisitor.

As their lips pulled apart, Morag leaned her forehead forward, sighing deeply, "You're mean…"

"I know," Nia gave her another quick peck before standing straight, smirking down at the woman, drawing her clawed finger along her pale chin, "You're too beautiful, I ever tell you that?"

"At least twenty times a day at this point," Morag waved her hand away, leaning forward as much as she could to push up on the vanity and get up. Everything was such a hassle with the added weight, and she barely had anything that fit, let alone something decent for a royal function. Finally standing up, with Nia's help as the shorter woman couldn't help any chance to touch and help the woman she loved, Morag stared at the mirror, "Architect, what I would give to be in a uniform again…"

"After the baby is born," Nia swatted at her arm, knowing this complaint like the back of her hand. When Morag groaned again, Nia just tugged her forward, they had to get moving to make it in time for the ceremony. She nuzzled up to Morag's arm, subtly helping her along, as she smirked, showing her fangs and giving her lover a sly eyed look, "Besides, I'll have a _lot_ of fun taking it off you once you finally get it back on…"

An almost pained look spread across Morag's face as she closed her eyes and let Nia lead her, "Don't tease me."

"No promises." Nia ended with a laugh. They both were excited for the baby, to see what would happen and how things would work out, but that wasn't to say they weren't _also_ excited to get back to their nocturnal proclivities.

When they opened the door to leave their suite, KOS-MOS was standing there with her hand raised as if about to knock. Hilariously Herald was hovering behind her and seemed torn between being ready to help her Driver and picking KOS-MOS up and asking where she'd been and what she'd been doing.

The two Drivers just stared flatly at the battle android.

"Oh," Nia's ears were back as she stared from KOS-MOS to Herald, "You're back."

"Morag." Herald nudged the other two out of the way, lowering down and holding out her arms.

Nia glared more at the electric Blade.

Morag just sighed deeply, "Very well, Herald," she leaned down and gave Nia a comforting kiss on the cheek, stroking her ears a second, before submitting to the over-protective care of her over-powered Blade.

"You should not be walking in your condition, Morag." Was Herald's monotonous response. Excuse as anyone else would call it, especially Nia, as Herald was the only one of Morag's Blades that could bully the Gormotti Flesh-Eater to give up her monopoly on the Ardainian woman. But Herald was genuine in her concern for her Driver, just wanting to ease her transition during this process. The large Blade gently picked up her Driver with two sets of arms, holding her bridal style, and adjusting where needed, "Are you comfortable, Morag?"

"I'll be fine," the Ardainian woman gave a dry smile up to her Blade before turning her gaze to Nia and her Blade. No words were needed, just an apologetic look and wave.

Without thinking Nia waved back, clearly pouting as Herald hovered in the air and moved down the hall. Nia just crossed her arms, staring ahead flatly and started walking.

KOS-MOS followed without command, matching the speed of her Driver with ease, "The coronation is today?"

"Yea," Nia grumbled, "If it were anyone else, we wouldn'ta been summoned, but Morag refuses to miss anything dealin' with her lil' brother."

"She is a doting elder sibling." Was KOS-MOS' robotic response.

It made Nia snicker, "Yea, suppose that's one way to put it," Nia scratched her face, lowering one hand to her hip, "All these hormones are driving her nuts, any bit of action and she jumps at it, like a bunnit after a piece of fruit."

"Your words are tactless yet sound rather endeared to this action." KOS-MOS briskly walked at the pace her Driver set, commenting as if it were nothing more than weather they were talking about.

Nia rolled her head, making a face somewhere between chided and smiling, "Yea, I guess so, watching the mighty Imperial Inquisitor bedridden and stir-crazy is a bit funny though," she nudged KOS-MOS, smirking cheekily like they were sharing an inside joke. When the battle android just flatly stared at her, Nia sighed heavily, "Right, who am I talking to," she waved her hand, shaking her head, "So, got any info? You went off on yer own to check out Zeke, Pandoria, Rex, Pyra and Mythra, yea?"

"Affirmative," KOS-MOS caught up, giving a swift nod.

"And?" cracking open a golden eye, Nia stared at her Blade slyly, "What'cha find?"

"There is a staggering amount of diversity for such a small sample size," it almost sounded like KOS-MOS was frustrated but that was a silly notation, "It appears that with a Blade-Eater involved, Zeke and Pandoria produced another Blade-Eater. Pyrrha, with a unique red lightning and shield weapon, showing signs of accelerated growth, and will likely be fully grown within two years…"

"Really?" gold eyes blinked, Nia hadn't heard anything from the two past they'd had their kid. Crossing her arms she lowered her head, thinking, "Suppose that makes sense, bein' what Zeke is, think that had anything to do with it?"

"Inconclusive," KOS-MOS seemed to almost frown, "I would need a larger sample size to test any theory on the variety of hybridization. But that hypothesis seems most likely, especially given that Pandoria has lost half her core crystal as well."

Nia moved to hold her chin, "Never thought of that, guess that makes her what, half a Blade?" one of her Gormotti ears flickered, considering the implications before pushing the thoughts aside, turning back to her light Blade, "So what about Rex and all them, how'd they make out?"

"The theory that adding human data would result in expanded randomization seems confirmed," was KOS-MOS' response.

"How ya figure?" a cream colored brow rose on Nia's face, curious what the battle android had to say.

"The Blade born from Mythra was an Earth type Tanker, while the one born from Pyra was a Water type Healer," red eyes turned to her Master, noticing the Gormotti woman snickering just a bit, "Neither of those types or combat proficiencies would have been in the data of the parent Blades, though some margin of error is allowed there since they are Aegises, and they theoretically contain all the information of all potential Blades."

Nia just sighed, "Guess those two bein' Aegises just mess with all of your theories, ey?"

"On the contrary," KOS-MOS seemed almost excited to say, "At least one hypothesis was confirmed," she didn't even wait for Nia to give her a look, moving on with her findings, "Not only are the Aegis capable of propagation via input from the PROJECT NOAH program through simple data transfer, but such action between the two of them resulted in another, near identical, Aegis."

"Wait." Nia stopped, holding her hands out to stop KOS-MOS and to set her thoughts straight, "Wait, wait, wait just a bloody minute!" skeptically she turned to her Blade, brows furrowed and a surprised questioning look in her eyes as she face KOS-MOS directly, "Are you saying… yer tellin' me, you got those two to…" gold eyes blinked, " ** _With_** each other! In front of you?!"

Red eyes just blinked, not understanding what her master was getting at, "The data transfer between Aegises lasted approximately 2.36 seconds, more than enough time to copy and share significant Blade specifications that could then be uploaded via the same system as PROJECT NOAH implemented to the same results, forming a new core crystal."

Gold eyes blinked several times as Nia processed those words, "So Mythra and Pyra didn't have sex in front of you?"

"Technically, no." was KOS-MOS' clipped response.

"What'cha mean 'technically'?" gold eyes narrowed, wanting as much clarification as possible.

KOS-MOS just stared at her Driver, "By technical standards, the sharing and mingling of data at the core level such as that would be considered a variation of sex. But the biological variation which requires more time and action, making it far less efficient, is likely the version you are meaning, which no, that is not the version they enacted."

Closing her eyes, Nia rubbed her head as her ears twitched, "This is so weird, I think I actually understood what you said there."

"Understood," KOS-MOS simply started moving forward again, continuing as if Nia hadn't halted them at all, "As a result of this data transfer, I managed to witness the propagation of another Aegis core crystal. My theory is that with such similar data between Pyra and Mythra, both being Aegises, and their function essentially the same, the data had little need for adjusting, thus cutting the processing time down significantly."

"How long was… er, whichever one'a them was the ma, laid up?" crossing her arms, Nia had caught back up with the battle android, finding this bit of news amusing.

"Mythra was the recipient of the Pyra's data transfer," there was a snickering snort, not that KOS-MOS noticed, "And the gestation period was only one day. By the next morning a new Aegis was born, taking the form of the third Aegis variant seen between the two, containing her abilities as well, though in a baby form, same as the other two children. It is safe to assume she will grow at a similar rate, though it is fascinating to note the Aegis seem to birth autonomous Blades. Whether or not this is a result of human coupling with Blades, or a unique function of the Aegis implementation of the PROJECT NOAH code is undetermined at this time."

While KOS-MOS was rambling, Nia had both hands over her mouth, trying to halt her laughter to little avail, "Oh man, Pyra knocked up Mythra," another snort, "That's gonna blow Rex's mind when he hears about it!"

"It is imperative to note, with three Aegis in existence, the Aegis system, while now remotely operated autonomously, could potentially start working again." KOS-MOS posited positively, "Provided those three remain active."

That had Nia's ears perking up, "You mean one'a them things you were talking about that processed young Blades, letting them mature and their cores restart?"

"Yes," KOS-MOS nodded, "I do not know the repercussions, or the full level of influence the Aegises hold over other Blade functions at this time, but it is a step that could potentially ensure our latent immortality returns."

"Good news I guess," Nia just shrugged before turning to her Blade, "So, you coming to this coronation thing?"

"I was not aware I was invited," KOS-MOS responded clippedly.

Nia rubbed her face again, "Yea well, you're one'a my Blades, and after all the pomp and stuff, Adenine and Wulfric wanted to offer their first core crystal to Niall as a gift on his engagement," the Gormotti woman grinned wide, seeing KOS-MOS' interest suddenly piqued, "We get to finally see if those new core crystals work or not, ey?"

"Determining the function and variability present from such core crystals will help improve future propagation and determining offspring core traits," KOS-MOS gave a swift nod, "Observing any resonance will help in concluding patterns, such as parental affinities and how they affect the offspring Blade." Red eyes turned to Nia, "I would very much appreciate the opportunity to attend."

With a wide smirk Nia just slapped KOS-MOS' arm, "Well, why didn't ya just say so, no need for all the rest'a that mumbo jumbo." She nodded her head down the corridor, where Herald had gone long ago, "C'mon!"

"Affirmative." And both Blade and Driver took off, hoping to not miss the best part.

* * *

 **A/N:** here's my snark from AO3 and the fun stories behind the Blade babies:

I'm sorry Mythra, i swear i love you~ Same with Morag... this is what happens when you have the strongest Blade, you can't tell it 'no' when its right XD

For a bit of fun, Pyrrha is based off the story of the Deluge, the greek version of the flood Noah is famous for that the bible likely ripped off... point being, Pyrrha is one of two humans that survived Zues' rampage, making the Deluge, with her cousin/Husband Ducalion... Pyrrah means 'red' and is often used to refer to her having red hair, and her parents were Pandora and Epimetheus, yes THAT Pandora, and a Titan, brother of Prometheus, whose name effectively means 'Hindsight' or 'After Thought'... meaning he did things and thought about them later AKA he's an idiot... which just made me take a closer look at Pandoria and Prince von TeamRocket over there and his silly antics that miraculously didn't get him killed, hehe~

i doubt that was a intended reference, but hey, i'll take it! :D

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are a trinity of forms of rhetoric, or paths on convincing people, and basically stand for 'Morals/Social Upstanding', 'Logic', and 'Emotions'... i'm sure with the original Aegises, Othos was Ethos and Pneuma was Pathos where Logos was clearly who he was~ this type of trinity on human conciousness sort of shows up a lot in stuff, particularly the Xeno-games, so i wasn't surprised to see it again in SOME form~

without Morals, Logic and Emotions will just be at each other's throats, clearly~

anyway, more crazy for this! :D

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	6. Phase One Complete!

**A/N:** Moving right along~

ENJOY!

* * *

The Coronation ceremony took longer than anyone thought it needed to. Senators and generals were taking every chance they could to congratulate Emperor Niall on his engagement, along with coming of age and reaffirming him as the Emperor of the great and mighty Empire of Mor Ardain.

Nia was yawning halfway through. It would have been more obvious if Morag hadn't swapped her hand away from her mouth and waking her up every few minutes. It seemed like every time she did it Niall would glance away from his throne to his sister in the middle of a throng of Blades and give a grateful small smile.

Niall had grown much in the nearly six years since the fall of the World Tree. Like Rex he had gone from a boy to a full grown man, tall and sturdy, but retaining his good looks and clean cut face. Nia and Zeke both made notable comments that Niall was likely what Morag would have looked like if she were truly a man, the Inquisitor had glared at both of them the rest of the day.

The young Emperor had retained that calm, level-headed patience and desire for peace he had shown as a child. Now a man, he was much more confident in his abilities to gain what he truly desired, for the good of the world, not just Mor Ardain, and Morag couldn't be more proud of him. Even if he did order her on maternity leave with a stupid smile on his face, saying she needed a break.

Every time Nia yawned out of boredom and his sister did something to correct it, he couldn't help but laugh in his mind, maintaining a calm exterior and sending an amused look towards his big sister and her lover. He was even happier every time Morag would notice his glances, would look apologetic and he noticed Nia would squeeze her hand, calming her down. It was a cute display and he was glad they had managed to come.

The throng of senators and generals congratulating him was getting tiresome, and Niall wished more than anything he could follow his sister-in-all-but-name's suit and just show how bored this stuffy affair was for him. The best he could do was send a glance his sister's way or look apologetically towards his fiancé on his other side.

Her name was Raquel and they had met several times in the past year, as he and Queen Raqura hashed out the details of this treaty and engagement. If Niall was being honest with himself, he liked the girl. She had darker skin like most Urayans, the small scales around her eyes and finlike ears, with soft blue-green hair up in a courtier style common in the Urayan court. She looked every bit the princess, and granddaughter of the Queen of house Selosia, should look. But he knew this wasn't the field she truly cared for. Upon their first meeting she had been in light purplish pink armor typical of female Urayan mercenaries and was practicing with a spear, embarrassed when she realized he was the Emperor of Mor Ardain.

He had mistaken her for a mercenary guard and she had mistaken him for some common upstart Ardainian aristocrat.

It should have been a disaster from the start, but he had shared with her that his sister was all-but-married to a female Blade… whom she'd first met when she was sent to interrogate her for being a member of the then-terrorist group Torna. They had laughed and it broke the ice between them, and now they were here, listening to another senator congratulate them.

Raquel gave Niall a look with her soft magenta eyes, and he couldn't help but nod, biting back a sigh.

Emperor Niall held up his hand, halting any more praise. He turned to his fiancé, offering her his hand, as both stood regally from their thrones, and he addressed the senators and generals confidently, "Senators, Generals, it has given me great pleasure to be gifted such praise and accolades this day," he nodded to Raquel, "The graciousness shown to my future bride," he turned back to the crowd, "As well as the congratulations given during this Coronation has been most appreciated. We thank you whole heartedly, and with utmost sincerity," blue eyes turned from the crowd to his sister, "However, I believe this procession has gone on long enough, and I have more planning and engagements to attend to," there was a chorus of laughs, to which he openly smiled at, even if he didn't feel half of it was sincere.

Most of the senators and generals got the hint and headed towards the elevators to leave, others needed a few more glares from the not-too-small group of Blades standing behind Morag and Nia. While the Drivers chose to ignore the people leaving, the Blades took it upon themselves to look particularly scary to anyone that so much as looked at the two with any ill-intent. A number of senators still hadn't accepted Morag's decisions about her personal-life while others were still sore at Nia for the debacle two years ago with the Tantalese agreement.

Soon enough all the senators and generals were gone, leaving only those Niall considered his family.

As soon as the Emperor stepped foot on the floor from the raised steps to his throne, he was engulfed in a pair of warm, blue gloved hands. He chuckled, "Brighid, I don't think it's appropriate for you to just hug the Emperor like this?"

The blue flame Blade held him out at arm's length, smiling lightly, "Probably not, but someone has to now that Lady Morag very well can't…"

"That's a lie and you know it," said off-duty Inquisitor stood behind her Blade, giving a stern look, before holding out her hand to her brother. Niall just smiled, hugging his heavily pregnant sister as gently as he could, "I'm proud of you."

Niall squeezed her shoulders one last time before letting go, smiling at her gently, "I could say the same, I don't think I've seen that many senators scowl in your direction since you passed over all their sons in a single night."

"Oh, this I gotta hear?" Nia crossed her arms, smirking while looking particularly amused at her lover.

"Not long after I was unceremoniously deemed Emperor, one of the senators held a ball, trying to gain favor and have my _eligible_ elder sister notice their son," Niall laughed, "Every other senator with an available son sent him as well, trying the same tactic, but sister simply turned them all down, saying she couldn't very well dance with any of them while acting as my bodyguard."

With a pout, the Ardainian woman just crossed her arms over her large stomach, "I had a duty to the new Emperor; I saw no reason to abandon him for a night of frivolity."

"Yes," Brighid looked at her Driver with a sly grin not very well hidden behind her hand, "That's why you turned them all down…"

Nia just looked slyly at the pouty woman, putting her arm around her waist, "Suppose it's a good thing for me ya did," grinning Nia shamelessly nuzzled against Morag's stiffly crossed arm, "Else, I'd've had to steal you away."

"My hero," light brown eyes rolled as Morag delivered that line as dryly as possible, trying to ignore as Nia nuzzled closer.

Niall, Brighid and many of the other Blades laughed as red crept up Morag's face.

"I-is that because she was a member of Torna?" a stuttering voice cut through the laughter. Raquel was staring at Nia, apparently taking the comment a bit too seriously. When she noticed the others looking at her, particularly Nia's flat stare, she squeaked, bringing her hands to her mouth, "Wait-did I say that out loud?"

The staring continued.

Morag turned to her brother, "You told her?"

"Er, well," Niall chuckled, less embarrassed then he probably should have been, "It sort of came up…"

Light brown eyes continued to glare at her younger brother, but that was only because Morag could feel gold eyes staring at her.

"So, told yer lil' brother, ey?" Nia had her arms crossed as well, flatly staring at her lover, not a glare, not yet.

A tight look crossed Morag's face and she fought the urge to stand at parade rest, mainly because it was somewhat difficult in her current condition, what with the back pain… instead she just closed her eyes, one hand absently going over her stomach, "I was merely giving my report to the Emperor at the time. I was doing my job, nothing malicious intended."

A cream colored grey brow rose, along with a sly smirk on Nia's lips, "Mmhmm…" it was cute watching Morag try and not appear nervous. Looking at Niall, he seemed to hide the same expression only slightly better behind a kind regal smile. "You both are definitely siblings," Nia snorted, stepping between them as they both tensed as if caught, turning her gold eyes on Raquel, the Urayan Princess who looked about ready to explode from embarrassment. Sizing her up, one of those Gormortti ears of hers twitched, "Haven't I seen you before? Maybe in Garfront?"

Red passed over the Princess' face, to which she raised a hand, covering most of her cheek and turning to the side, "N-no, of course not…"

Gold eyes narrowed as Nia leaned over, trying to get a better look at the girl, "Ey? You sure? Could'a sworn I seen a girl looked just like you…" her eyes went up and down, inspecting the Princess, "Wearin' a bit of armor and training with a lance back in Garfront…" the Gormotti woman rubbed her chin, glancing at the gathered crowd of Blades around them, "Maybe Wulfric or Perun might know, least of all Roc…"

"N-no, please don't!" the Urayan woman made a sound somewhere between a squeal and harsh whisper, "I-I, ah, mean…" then quickly coughed into her hand, straightening more, clearly applying a proper royal cover, "A Princess of House Selosia would never be found in such a lowly establishment as a Mercenary Camp, especially not one unattended by the royal houses."

Sly light brown and gold eyes met, the Drivers smirking as several of their Blades joined them.

Nia just rolled her neck, "Yea, sure, I'll make sure to tell Rex that, I bet Roc would know better than to allow such a travesty, ey?" when the Princess turned back with a pleading look, Nia just gave a wide, arguably evil, grin.

Morag gave her small lover a nudge, "Be nice."

"Wut?!" Nia held her hands up like she hadn't done anything, "Jus' askin' a question is all… ain't hurtin' nobody."

The Inquisitorial gaze sent the Gormotti Blade's way told her Morag didn't believe that for a second.

Thankfully Emperor Niall was a gentleman and came to his lady's aid, he had after all half a decade's worth of experience with Nia's teasing. He held out his hand, taking Raquel's, and smiled charmingly, "Pay it no mind, they will not judge you," he turned back to his sister and her Blade-lover with an equally stern blue eyed glare, "Just as I'm sure she will not judge you as well sisters," he winked at Nia, causing her to snort and roll her eyes, "After all, soon we will be family."

"Yea, yea," crossing her arms, Nia just turned to the side, snorting with her ears twitching.

Morag glanced at Nia with a light smile, shaking her head before turning back to her brother and his princess, "Ignore her," the off-duty Inquisitor offered her hand to the young Urayan woman, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Princess Raquel of House Selosia."

Shyly the young Princess took the woman's offered hand, "A long awaited pleasure, Imperial Inquisitor Morag Ladair…"

There was a chuckle from the older woman, "Forgive the long delay, these past few months have been… exhausting," Absently Morag rubbed her hand along her stomach.

When Raquel took back her hand she couldn't help but look from the Inquisitor, to her stomach, then to the Gormotti ruffian that was leaning around behind the tall woman with narrow gold eyes, "Uhm…" she brought her hand up, covering her lips and glanced to Niall.

Once again he gave that charming smile, waving his hand towards his sister, "If you have something you wish to ask, it's best to do it directly," he chuckled when that got looks from the two Drivers, Nia's being particularly flat, "Sister would be upset otherwise."

Nia's look got flatter.

"Uhm, very well, if you insist," again Raquel glanced from the Ardainian woman to the Gormotti one behind her before nervously asking, "Might I inquire who the father is?"

"I am," Nia huffed, narrowly eyeing the girl again, and not too subtly wrapping her arms around Morag. The off-duty Inquisitor just sighing.

Magenta eyes blinked as the Princess stared at Nia quite confused, "But… you're a Gormotti woman?"

"I am," with a distinct nod, Nia wiggled her way under Morag's arm.

Blinking again, Raquel turned to Niall, looking for some kind of confirmation. He only had that placid smile of his on, as if simply watching and waiting to see what would happen. Essentially if she wanted to know, she'd have to ask it herself, as he'd said. Frowning, some of the Princess' regal airs left as she looked at the two woman confused, hands on her hips, "Niall told me his sister was involved with a female Blade…"

"I am," Morag tried to cross her arms, but Nia was making it difficult as she started nuzzling up her side and rubbing her stomach, almost purring with her smaller Driver form ears back.

"So how…?" pointing from one to the other, the Urayan woman was trying to make sense of the information given her. "Why is she…?"

Glaring down at her lover for leaving this to her, Morag was stuck answering as vaguely as possible, "She is a Gormotti woman," she dropped her hand down and started rubbing Nia's head, the action calming both of them, "And she is a Blade, when she wants to be," light brown eyes glared when gold ones just looked up at her as if innocent, before turning back to the Princess, "And, for the lack of a better word, she **_is_** the 'Father' of my child…"

"But… how…?" the look on Raquel's face looked less and less Princess-y as she was clearly just giving up on trying to hide her absolute confusion.

"It's best if you just accept it and don't ask for details," Niall smiled happily, patting his future wife's shoulder.

The poor girl just blinked, staring at the three of them.

"Master," one of the Blades behind the Gormotti woman stepped into view, looking like some manner of woman with technologically advanced armor, "It is fairly simple to explain, I could if you wish?"

"Yes! Please!" Raquel was saying before she even realized it.

"KOS-MOS! No!" funnily enough, it was both Morag and Nia yelling at the Blade.

The battle android had her hand up as if to start but looked to both her Driver and Morag, red eyes blinking before turning back to the Urayan woman that had asked, "The process is rather simple, by activating dormant data previously encrypted into the core crystal data by the Architect-!"

Immediately Nia jumped, placing her hands over KOS-MOS' mouth, frantically looking back at the Princess, "Damnit! Now look what you've done! It's been bloody months! MONTHS! And we finally got her to shut her trap about all this weird stuff only she understands and you have to go and ask her the one thing we DON'T want her explaining!"

"Eep!" the Urayan Princess seemed to jump behind Niall, holding onto his cloak, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-I'm just trying to understand!"

"Well don't!" Nia nearly hissed, before looking at the battle android she swore was doing this on purpose, "You, shut it!"

Red eyes looked down at her smaller Driver and gave a minute nod.

Nia didn't remove her hands until she was sure KOS-MOS wasn't saying anything anymore, keeping up her glare.

The battle android just watched her Driver, "Affirmative, Master."

Nia face-palmed, joining Morag who had since the battle android started talking.

Niall was scratching the side of his face, lightly chuckling to himself, "And that is our family," clear blue eyes turned to his bride almost sincerely, "Apologies for the vast difference between our public and private appearance," he held out his hand, referencing Morag, "My sister has faced extensive scrutiny for years for her actions from the senate, though the generals generally like her for her tactical and combat capabilities, she does have her quirks and unusual tastes," he moved his hand, referring to Nia, who was now frowning at him, "While my sister-in-all-but-name, Nia, is as unique as they come. It is not public knowledge that she is a Flesh-Eater, a Blade that has been infused with human cells, but she hasn't truly hidden that fact. Some senators still think this form and her Blade form are two different people."

"Shows how much all those spies they send our way trying to dig up dirt are worth," Nia grumbled, before being drawn in by Morag.

The young Emperor smiled at the two before turning back to his very confused fiancé, "People outside these walls will believe what they want, but the facts stay between us. My sister loves Nia, and she is essentially the father to their child my sister carries," He turned and smiled at the two, "This is what matters, no matter how strange it seems," then turned back to Raquel, "I hope you can understand and accept it."

"I-yes," she gave a well-trained nod, "Of course, as my Emperor demands."

Niall took her hand, patting it lightly with his other, "No need for such formality," he eyed his sister and Nia, "Especially around us."

Raquel just gave the charming young man a look as if he were crazy. The noble houses of Uraya would never dream of being so presumptuous as to be 'familiar' with one another, even in confidence. Looking from each of them, the odd smiles or comfortable looks and chiding. It seemed the Ardainian Imperial family was just strange.

Morag gave a deep sigh, pressing a finger between her eyes, trying to stave off a wave of dizziness.

"Ey? You alright?" Nia patted her stomach, looking up at the woman concerned.

With a shake of her head, Morag lowered her hand, "Just tired."

Gold eyes glared, "C'mon, told you this was a lot, you should'a been resting…"

"I don't need you nagging me right now," Morag grumbled.

"Morag." The largest of the Blades hovered near the woman, resembling a woman inside a mechanical dragon. Herald was holding out her arms, clearly indicating she should carry her Driver.

More than a few people were glaring at the large over-powered Blade, most importantly both Nia and Morag. Nia because she didn't want to let go of her lover and give up responsibility of her again, and Morag because she didn't want to be treated like a child in front of her brother and future-sister-in-law.

"Here, sister," Niall solved the problem for everyone, taking his sister's hand and leading her, with Nia's persistent help, towards his throne, "Please, rest."

Morag glared at both of them, decidedly lighter at her younger brother, and significantly harsher at Nia's cheeky grin, before shaking her head and sighing deeply, "Very well, if you _insist_ , your majesty."

Niall just chuckled, amused as his sister deliberately sat on the uncomfortable throne, Nia standing at her side pestering her. In an official capacity his sister still called him 'majesty', both out of respect and duty, but with Nia around that had slacked significantly when they were speaking privately. So he knew if she were using it here, especially since she was 'off-duty' she was being snide, likely to both him and the Gormotti woman next to her.

"Emperor Niall!" a quick voice called to the young emperor. When Niall turned two of Nia's Blades had approached him, a female Blade that looked to be made of pages with an obvious wind affinity and a book chained to her neck with a large beast looking Blade with black skin, horns and tendrils with a fierce looking face standing behind her. The bookish Blade spoke, smiling in a strange way, "As interesting as it is to see all of you interact, there was a reason we wanted to speak with you after everyone else left!"

Dark blue brows rose, as Niall looked from the Blade to its Driver, only for Nia to roll her eyes and go back to fretting over her lover, who looked equally nonplussed. This resulted in Niall putting up his charming smile, turning to the wind Blade, "Y-yes, what was it you wanted?"

The Blade's smile seemed to widen, tapping her fingers together, "Adenine," she spoke, clearly meaning her own name, then holding out a hand to the beastly Blade behind her, "and this is Wulfric, I'm sure either your sister or Nia has informed you of our most recent research?"

"That's one way to put it," Nia snorted while rolling her golden eyes.

Niall ignored his sister-in-all-but-name, "Yes, indeed, my sister has kept me up to date with the recent development of what's happened. If I recall, thanks to some meddling from KOS-MOS?" he nodded to the battle android who seemed to be standing off to the side oblivious, her red eyes on them while Herald hovered nearby.

"Indeed!" Adenine smiled brightly, holding out her hand, to which Wulfric placed something in it only for the wind Blade to smile at him charmingly, before turning back to Niall, "Thanks to our research and recent developments, we would like to move on to the next phase," she presented the odd colored core crystal to the Emperor of Mor Ardain, "This is why Wulfric and I would like to present you, as the Emperor of Mor Ardain, and more importantly the younger brother of our dear Morag," there was some eye rolling from those around them even if Adenine was being sincere, "With the first core crystal born into this new world of Elysium… thanks to KOS-MOS' meddling…" if that last part had been said by anyone else they would have called it snide. Adenine smiled, holding out the core crystal to Niall with Wulfric, arguably, smiling behind her, "We hope to see the results now if you don't mind?" clearly the technically 'first' Blade parents were eager to see their potential child.

They weren't the only ones, most of the Blades showed keen interest in what this 'new' type of core crystal would produce. The most obvious ones were KOS-MOS and Herald as they unsubtly stepped closer to the young Emperor.

Niall was staring at the core crystal. He had seen it, some months ago when his sister and Nia had presented it to him, just to SHOW him it was real and that there was _something_ going on with the 'Blade Illness' but he hadn't held it, nor even attempted to. The core crystal was the result of these two Blades having a relationship, along with some meddling from KOS-MOS he was later told when they returned from their trip to retrieve the strange Blade, who had used whatever technology was left over from the World Tree to do it. He had assumed the Blades would want their Drivers to have it. These new core crystals were still a fairly recent development, this one being the first core crystal to appear in Elysium, and that made it priceless.

"Th-that's a core crystal?!" Raquel spoke with a gasp, reminding everyone they _did_ technically have company.

"Shite," Nia facepalmed.

Morag, next to the Gormotti woman, put her fingers to her forehead, they hadn't planned for anyone out of the know to be here, "Well this will be 'fun' to explain…"

Before KOS-MOS could even raise her hand both drivers just gave her a look and spoke in unison, "NO!" the battle android put her hand down.

"Ah, yes," turning that ever present charm on, Niall took his bride-to-be's hand, pulling her closer to get a good look at the core crystal Adenine presented. He smiled to the Blade, silently asking her consent to do this, to which the green haired Blade just gave a quite nod, still smiling. The young emperor looked grateful, "Like my sister's condition, this is something we have not _meant_ to hide, just found no reason to bring up," gently he reached out his hand, taking the core crystal from Adenine who looked extremely excited, and brought it close to examine it, as well as give Raquel a better look, "I don't know to what extent the Blade Illness affected Uraya, but thanks to my sister and Nia having acquired a large number of unique Blades during their travels to the World Tree, and they effectively allowing them the freedom to do as they pleased now that the end of the world has long past, many of them have found love with some of their compatriots," lightly he nodded his head to the two in front of them, Wulfric reaching a large spiky black hand out to cup the smaller wind Blade around her shoulder as she responded to him in kind, "And from what research my sisters have told me the cause of that illness was something quite groundbreaking," he nodded to KOS-MOS standing off to the side, "These Blades, all unique Blades, now have the capacity to propagate core crystals with one another, allowing for a new method to generate core crystals apart from the fallen Titans."

Magenta eyes blinked, looked at the core crystal, to the two Blades and back several times before red rushed up the woman's face as she brought her hands up to cover face, realization clearly evident on her face, "You mean-? They-?" without realizing it she pointed between the odd wind Blade and the large earth beast Blade.

"Yea, best we don't ask sumit we don't really wanna know, ey?" Nia was giving a perfect cat who ate the canary smug grin to the girl: lids low, Gormotti ears tilted back and eyebrows being a tad too suggestive. Morag, for what she could do, smacked her hand telling her to be nice.

It was funny how the Urayan princess' finned ears twitched as her eyes just got a bit wider at the two of them and seemed to decide to just keep her hands covering the lower half of her face. This was awkward in so many ways, Ardainians were so weird!

"I don't see it as a very strange question," funnily enough Adenine just crossed her arms looking perplexed, "I could give a number of details if the princess would truly like to know, I've kept extensive notes of our research into this first phase…"

Several Blades and people had to stop themselves from choking on their laughter.

"Adenine, no!" Nia pointed at her Blade, gold eye twitching, "And you!" then turned to KOS-MOS, who looked eager to ask or comment, "Don't you bloody dare! I dunno what's with you two, but just no! Bloody smartest one's here and not a lick of common sense to just shut it on the details between you two!"

Both Adenine and KOS-MOS seemed to pout, in their muted ways, and being almost consoled by their respective partners, Wulfric grumblingly pulling the wind Blade closer while Herald nervously hovered near the battle android.

"Just activate the core crystal!" surprisingly it was Wulfric's booming bestial voice that cut through all the tension. He still had one hand on Adanine's shoulder while his other was making a fist as clearly he was tense with anticipation, "We want to see our child! Uwwaahhaa!" Adenine absently patted his hand, seemingly unfazed by his booming voice and howling.

With all attention back on him, Niall could feel sweat trailing down the side of his face, "Y-Yes…" clear blue eyes looked at the core crystal in his hand gently. He hadn't had a Blade since Aegaeon was his, vowing to not take up another Blade until he was strong enough to defend himself. Absently he glanced to the water type katana wielding Blade, Aegaeon was standing next to Perceval, the two having become close in the past five years, having opted to act as his bodyguards. He knew his sister had nothing to do with it, her Blades simply choosing their own course when they had nothing better to do. So in a way, Aegaeon never left him…

He still wasn't sure if he was ready to have another Blade, if he was strong enough to be responsible for another life like that. Strong enough to keep his own life with one at his side unlike before…

A hand on his arm pulled the young emperor from his thoughts, and he found himself staring into those magenta eyes of Raquel. She was his intended, they were to be married soon enough and she would be his responsibility, just as all of Mor Ardain had been his responsibility since he was young.

- _I need to be strong_ \- Niall nodded to himself, holding the core crystal with both hands and closing his eyes, bringing it close to his heart. – _I will be strong, for my family, my future, and Mor Ardain_ -

There was a bright flash and a huge gust of wind picked up in the throne room.

Standing in the middle of the room in front of Niall was a tall serpentine woman, her upper torso humanoid with green scales and bronze plate covering her chest, matching a bronze belt that separated her humanoid features from a long snake-like tail that acted as her legs, mostly green with darker patches showing diamond shaped patterning down her back to the rattle at the end of her tail. Her face was sharp, with two large obvious upper fangs, serpent like gold eyes lined with purple and her hair was actually tendrils similar to Wulfric's.

She leaned in close to the young emperor, tilting up his chin with long fingers with black claw like nails, and stuck out her snakelike tongue, seemingly examining him before smiling widely, leaning back and rattling her tail excitedly.

"I am Medusa," her voice was oddly softer than her appearance would suggest. When she held out her hands wind pick up around them, in one appeared a small reflective buckler, while the other an ornate spear. She spun the spear around in one hand, generating a gust of wind before waving it straight out, holding the buckler up, smiling at the young man, "Let me be the strength that lies deep within your heart, master."

Suddenly she let go of the spear in her hand and it disappeared into the ether, reappearing in front of Niall, causing the young man to instinctively grab it, feeling the ether energy and the gale force winds this weapon could create.

The young emperor nodded, accepting the weapon, twirling it and then holding it out as she had done, smiling something strong and true to his new Blade, "I am Niall," he gave a courteous bow, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Medusa."

The snakelike woman smiled charmingly, bowing her head to her new Driver… then was immediately glomped by the much smaller form of Adenine, then Wulfric barrel hugged them both, picking them up and making a sound that was probably him laughing even if it was more a mix of him grunting and howling.

Medusa looked absolutely confused, rattle at the end of her tail shaking constantly until both she and the other wind Blade were put down.

"Oh this is so fascinating! Absolutely! Spectacularly!" Adenine was doing her little happy dance, so excited she was barely able to stay on the ground.

"Uwahaha!" Wulfric reached out, touching the new Blade's tendril like hair, to which she hissed at him for, causing him to laugh even louder and more boisterously, "This is wonderful!"

Medusa seemed to flinch back from the two Blades, but kept staring at them oddly.

Feeling a need to help the situation, Niall stepped forward, "Medusa," he held out his hand, referring to the other two, "This is Adenine and Wulfric," they nodded when referenced, and the snakelike Blade followed him, "These are your parents."

Immediately her serpent like eyes widened as she stared at the two Blades that had eagerly accosted her, blinking still a bit unsure, "Is this true? How is that possible?"

Adenine brightened up at the question, "Questions! Questions! So many that need to be answered I'm sure!" she warped next to the other wind Blade's side, taking her arm excitedly, "Please ask away! As I have many for you as well, there is so much to learn about this new process! What's retained, what level of recognition is imprinted, how are the weapon choices different… so many things to know!"

Medusa nervously looked back at her Driver, silently asking for his advice but clearly unable to turn the other Blade down.

Niall just chuckled, smiling as he waved her away into the care of her excitable parents, "We can speak more later, enjoy your time together."

The look the snakelike Blade gave the young emperor could only be interpreted as 'SAVE ME!' when Adenine started talking faster than anyone could fully comprehend, her curiosity and excitement obviously overwhelming.

Niall looked upon his new Blade with sympathy but chose to let this play out, there were so many things they certainly could learn from this new Blade.

"Young master." A deep voice called out, drawing everyone's attention away from the overly excitable chattering of Adenine.

In front of Niall stood both Aegaeon, the dark skinned water Blade with tendrils for hair, and Perceval, the red masked eclectic dark Blade. Both were giving respective bows and before Niall could so much as ask them what they wanted, both had stood straight, Aegaeon giving a soft smile while Perceval held a blue and purple tinted core crystal in his clawed hands.

"Young master," Perceval was the one to speak this time, "We have spent long nights discussing this, but we both feel that you deserve this as well…" the purple clad dark Blade held out his hands, presenting the core crystal to the young emperor.

Niall just blinked, surprised, looking from one Blade to the other, "Are you sure?"

Aegaeon and Perceval seemed to share a look, though Aegaeon was the one to obviously smile and answer in his low bubbly tone, "Young master, we have been your bodyguards these past few years, in part due to our Driver's desire to keep you safe," he nodded to Morag who smiled back at him, "As well as my own desire to learn more about my old self and you as well." Reaching out, the water swordsman took Niall's hand in his, Perceval's hands held in his other, as he brought the young emperor's hand over the core crystal in his lover's hands, "Through this experience I may not have remembered anything, but I have gained so much more," Aegaeon looked lovingly at the masked Blade next to him, "A happiness I had not thought possible," his glowing eyes looked down at their joined hands, "Now this gift, which we both have decided to give to you."

"Heh," Perceval seemed to chuckle deep in his throat, "He just didn't want to give it to you before Adenine had a chance to give you theirs, something about propriety and ceremonies." The dark Blade shrugged, "I have no interest in such things, but I know you are a good leader with a kind heart. If my skills can be passed on to you in some way through this core crystal, then hopefully you will have someone with sense watching your back when we or your sister cannot."

Hesitantly Niall looked from one male Blade to the other before giving a courteous nod, taking the core crystal from Perceval's hands. Adenine and Wulfric's core crystal had been the first discovered, so it had been special in that sense and was in a way appropriate that the Emperor of Mor Ardain be the new owner, though he knew it had more to do with his sisters' affections rubbing off on their Blades.

But this one was more personal. Aegaeon had been Niall's companion since he was a small child, a surrogate father to him as Brighid had been like he and Morag's mother when both their parents passed away and they were all that was left of them. He had looked up to the quiet swordsman, wanted to emulate his strength and quiet honest attitude, to be a man that he would be proud of when he grew up and be a better leader than his father or Morag's.

Then the incident five years ago at the summit in Indol, where the intent had been to skirt war and invoke some manner of peace by paying for a debt forced upon Mor Ardain by the then-terrorists Torna. As a defender type Blade, Aegaeon could protect everyone from the blast of that machine, and it had succeeded… at the cost of his own life. No one ever truly asked Niall what he felt in that moment and sometimes he woke in the night dreaming about it. Even for him it was hard to believe he had died, but Aegaeon had returned to his core crystal and there was only one reason for that.

The Aegaeon he had grown up admiring was gone, and it was all due to his own brash action. He thanked Nia once out loud for her saving him and she'd bonked him on the head for mentioning it, then told him to just never do something as stupid as that ever again. He had woken up to seeing his sister crying over him, so he knew it must have been hard on the Gormotti Flesh-Eater as well. Perhaps that was why he liked Nia so much, not because she saved his life, but because she cared so much about his sister's feelings to spit in the face of the Architect and his own actions to pull him back from the abyss just to yell at him for being foolish and making his big sister cry.

That had proven to Niall he was not strong enough, not yet, to truly wield his own Blade and judge such situations clearly. He either wasn't strong enough to protect those he cared about, or he could but at the brash cost of his own life. Either way, he was not fit.

So he gave Aegaeon's core crystal to his sister, entrusting the true dynasty of their family to her. And even after seeing Aegaeon again, a new version of the water swordsman that didn't know him, he vowed he would be stronger and try harder to try and live up to the ideals of the man he once was. Having this new Aegaeon insist on being his bodyguard when Elysium was settled was arduous, but his sister said he had insisted not her so Niall allowed it. This Aegaeon was new and curious just as he was, so while he may not have been the same father-figure Niall had grown up with, he was still an impressive and reserved man he could admire and trust with his safety.

In a way, this version of Aegaeon had become like a brother, they had grown together through these past six years. So to Niall, this gift he and his chosen lover were giving him, was much more personal and significant.

- _Let me do better_ \- Niall held the core crystal to his chest with both hands, remembering the man he had grown up admiring. – _Let me repay him for saving my family when I could not…_ -

As before there was a bright flash of light, only this time it was consumed by darkness.

Out of a shadow in the center of the room stood a very tall hooded figure. His face was cloaked in a tattered red hood, shadowed mostly with glowing yellow eyes. Long lanky limbs stretched out from the tattered mantle, showing dark purplish skin wrapped in worn bandages. Clawed hands and feet bare as the seeming giant loomed over the young emperor that had summoned him.

"Nebiros." A deep reverberating voice called from the shadow covered face as he held out his long hand to the young man before him. There were scars on his purplish hands, pale in comparison to his dark skin and the bandages suggested more across his whole body as if he had survived countless battles. A short in comparison to the size of the man sword appeared in his hand from dark energy and he held it out to his new Driver, "Let me be your guide and consul."

Fearlessly, as despite how menacing this Blade seemed to be in appearance, Niall stepped forward sensing a kindness lurking in the shadows under that red hood. A genuine sadness of his nature that sought to do what was needed. The young emperor reached out and the katana held in Nebiros' hand appeared in his own. It was the right size for him to wield, holding the sheath in one hand he drew the blade in his other and examined this blade of darkness.

"Clear, calm and elegant," sheathing the weapon, Niall returned it, bowing his head, "My name is Niall," he looked up into those glowing eyes obscured by shadow, "I hope we have a long and beneficial time together."

The red hooded head seem to tilt, nodding and accepting his Driver's proposal. He then turned around, sensing others looking at him, specifically the two male Blades close by.

Aegaeon was staring, his own white eyes wide and surprise clearly evident on his face. Next to him Perceval showed no emotion but he took a step forward, holding out his hand, "Perceval. You could say I am your mother."

"Th-that's not how you introduce yourself!" the dark pigment on Aegaeon's face seemed to get darker as he seemed to fret, frantically looking between his lover and their apparent son, clearly not sure what to think.

Percival merely shrugged lightly with one shoulder, still holding out his hand, "It's the truth."

Aegaeon looked about to die from embarrassment.

After a long moment, which seemed to make the water Blade more and more uncomfortable, Nebiros finally extended his long lanky arm, taking the smaller Blade's hand, seemingly smiling in the darkness of his hood, "It is good to meet you… mother."

There was a sniffle behind Perceval's mask, clearly he was proud of this outcome.

Aegaeon made his own introduction, quickly shuffling them off to the side as the lumbering giant followed the male couple. They were just as curious as Adenine and Wulfric were with Medusa, so many questions to ask and things to consider now that parenthood was a concept in their lives as Blades.

For a moment Niall was left standing there, lost in his own thoughts as the feel of two Blade weapons buzzed in his hands. The feel of Medusa's gale force spear and Nebiros' dark katana, they brought back echoes he never thought he would feel again in his life.

A light hand tugged at his sleeve and he was drawn back to the world around them.

Kind blue eyes turned to magenta colored ones and Niall smiled, reaching to take his future bride's hand, "I'm sorry, I seem to have drifted off a second, did you say something?"

The Urayan woman just shook her head, "N-no," her hand moved down, clasping his own as she looked down a bit embarrassed, "You just looked… like you needed it."

He smiled kindly at her, before glancing up a bit to see Nia and his sister watching their interaction from his throne. Morag looked tired with her face placid while the Gormotti woman was making clearly snide kissy faces at them. Niall was always better at hiding his true nerves from his face than his sister, so merely responded to the taunts with a charming smile before returning his attention to his future wife.

Raquel was holding his hand, clearly concerned about him but her eyes kept darting towards the new Blades, who were being crowded by the other Blades. The parent Blades were clearly trying to monopolize their time but the other unattached Blades were just as curious by this new development, most notable was, of course, KOS-MOS, who was asking many, many, **_many_** strange questions to the two new Blades, with Herald not far behind her. This was somewhat worse for Medusa than Nebiros as Adenine, her mother, was being just as bad as the battle android.

"Your Highness!" a cheery voice called to the royal couple, causing both to turn to see a man with lightly reddish skin, orange hair and covered from head to toe in ice, even his Gormotti ears looked almost like they were just ice spikes coming out of his head. He was smiling bright and widely, giving the emperor of Mor Ardain a salute.

"Godfrey, correct? One of my sister's Blades?" raising a dark brow Niall looked the man over. He had seen the Blade before, recognized him obviously, but couldn't say he'd seen the ice Blade around the palace that often.

"Yes!" the Gormotti Blade eagerly cheered. He made a swift pose and smiled at the royal couple, "I am Godfrey! Protector of Justice!" there might have been a **_ping!_** From his teeth as he added a wink, "And as such I travel extensively, helping where I can! Mainly joining the Garfront Mercenaries on their noble tasks!" he had a very excitable personality, clearly.

At the mention of the mercenary band, Princess Raquel seemed to slink further behind her future husband.

This only caused Niall to sigh, both at her actions and just how exhausting this Blade must have been on his sister, "I see, that is very commendable Godfrey."

"Hehe!" the male Blade just seemed to chuckle, putting his hands on his waist, standing tall and proud as he looked the young emperor in the eyes, "Yes! Justice! Passion! And Kindness! Are needed in these turbulent times and I offer my services wherever I go! For the greater good!"

The more passionate the speech from Godfrey, the further Niall felt the need to lean back. He could feel Raquel now fully hiding behind him and he did not blame her one bit, "I see." Putting on his best charming smile, Niall tried to get to the root of this, "I'm sure my sister would be glad to see you again and gather your report… unless you are here for something else?"

"Hehe!" Godfrey just grinned, crossing his arms and looking somehow pleased with himself, "You've got good eyes your highness! I can see why my Driver is so proud of you!" he looked to his side, where a dark skinned female Blade with similar ice motifs stepped forward. She didn't seem effected by Godfrey's intense attitude and none of them were sure what to make of that, though she did have an intense stare. Godfrey was just smiling from ear to ear, putting his arm around the woman's shoulders when she was next to him, "This is my partner! In more than just Justice! Perun!"

The light haired, dark skinned woman gave a modest bow, then smiled politely at the two, "It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness."

Releasing a relieved sigh for having someone a bit more sensible to talk to, Niall held out his hand to the woman, "It is always a pleasure of mine to meet new people," she made a funny face at that, almost amused, intriguing Niall, "I have to ask, you don't seem to be either of my sisters' Blade…?"

"I am not." Perun just smiled, "I was the first unique Blade my Driver, Rex, released from a core crystal that wasn't the Aegis," there was a slight glance from the knightly Blade as she turned to Morag and Nia, her small smile widening slightly, "I was present when Lady Morag was still our advisory before we initially left Gormott."

"Yea, and you were there with Azami spying on the kid when him and Pyra couldn't figure out how to talk to each other without stumbling all over themselves," Nia threw in from near the throne with a cheeky grin and giggle.

This caused Perun to blush a bit embarrassed as she closed her eyes and push the irritation down, "You are not one to talk about such things, Nia." The stare she returned was intense and it almost sounded like someone squeaked.

Morag chuckled behind her hand, glancing from the ice Knight to her childish lover, "You know she has a point…"

"Shut it." The Gormotti woman just frowned, crossing her arms and looking away.

A genuine smile crept up Niall's face as he glanced from his sister-in-all-but-name and the female ice type Blade, their partners either amused or confused, "Every time I hear about that journey, there's always some new detail revealed," he chuckled to himself, enjoying as they all seemed to get momentarily embarrassed, except Godfrey, he was just smiling like that was a good thing, "I'm sure one day I will have **_all_** the details about everything that happened, both on and off the battlefield."

Morag just tucked her face behind her hand, ignoring the knowing look her younger brother was giving her. Some details just did not need to be included in official reports.

"Tch," Gold eyes rolled as one of Nia's Gormotti ears twitched, "Alright, what'cha doin' here Perun? Thought you'd be out on a mission with this idjit?" she nodded her head to Godfrey, who despite the obvious insult just kept smiling, it was really weird.

"Ah, yes," Perun reached behind her and pulled something out of seemingly thin air. Godfrey pulled her closer as the chivalrous ice Knight presented a core crystal with a light blue aura, "We had thought this over, and since keeping it with us does no one any good, we decided to give it to you, your highness."

Dark eyebrows rose astonished, "For me?" Niall just blinked, the two ice type Blades giving him sincere nods. Tentatively he reached out for the core crystal, taking it in his hands and looking it over, "May I ask why?"

"Well, to be honest, everyone is giving them to you," Absently, Godfrey seemed to be scratching his head, "Guess you could say it's a wedding gift! From us and your sister, right!" he gave a firm nod and smiled wide.

Perun on the other hand gave a small sigh at Godfrey's enthusiastic honesty, she looked at the young emperor sympathetically, "Truthfully we weren't sure whom to give it to, as my Driver and his refused to take on anymore unique Blades. Although Lady Morag has always been adoring towards her younger brother, and even Godfrey mentioned you more than once as a kind and fair ruler who has always tried to do the right thing." That intense look came over the dark skinned woman's eyes, "I hope our child can serve you well, and keep you on the right path, your highness."

Niall looked the woman in the eyes, taking the core crystal from her with one hand. Looking it over he wondered what this one would be. Raquel's hand on his tightened and he glanced at her an idea coming to mind. With a smile the young Emperor faced his intended, "Raquel…"

"Hmm?" her finlike ears twitched, glancing up into his eyes.

That charming look on Niall's face did not leave as he glanced back at the two Blades, "As much as I appreciate your gift, would you mind if I gave it to my fiancé instead?"

Godfrey and Perun blinked at the young Emperor, then glanced towards one another before smiling back at him. Godfrey gave a huge grin, giving a thumbs up, "That's got to be one of the most romantic gestures I've ever seen!"

Perun just gave a small nod, consenting, "We would be honored you would make such a gesture," her stern eyes glanced at the Urayan princess, "I hope she appreciates and understands the weight of its meaning."

Raquel blushed nervously before giving the female Knight a courteous nod, "Indeed, to be entrusted with one of the first core crystals… _born_ ," it was still a strange concept that was what was happening here, but there really was no better word for her to use, "in Elysium," she turned towards Niall, facing him a bit more comfortably, "Especially considering I am not well-known here nor perhaps fully trusted," momentarily her eyes fell along with a tightening in her jaw, "Though I am sure Uraya would be most appreciative of the gesture."

"Oh geez, she's gonna be a fun one to deal with…" Nia snorted and rolled her eyes, watching the scene from the throne with her lover and unable to stay quiet any longer.

Morag sighed in response as well, "I can assure you, my brother may be the Emperor of Mor Ardain," light brown eyes narrowed on the blue-green haired princess, "But he was never one to do something so personal as a pithy gesture to appease social standing, even on an international scale…"

There was a chuckle from the young Emperor, "I have grown up with an such upstanding example to such after all," blue eyes smiled at his sister, enjoying as she blushed facing away while Nia further teased her. Turning back to his fiancé, still holding the core crystal out to her, "Though, she is right," lightly he took Raquel's hand in his own and placed the core crystal in hers, "I do this as a gift, not as the Emperor of Mor Ardain to the Princess of House Selosia, but as a young man to his future wife." He closed her hand over the core crystal while looking into those startled sea colored eyes, "These are precious for more reasons than the miracles they represent, but also as a promise, for better days and a companion that will always be at your side should I ever fail you."

"Niall…" her grip tightened on the core crystal as she looked into his kind, charming eyes.

With a tight smile, Niall raised one of his hands to brush a stray hair back behind her ear, "I know you lost your Blade not long ago because of the 'Price for Paradise', and I'm not saying this Blade should ever replace him in your heart, but I hope you can accept this chance from me," he glanced over to his own new Blades, still mostly being pestered by his sisters' Blades, "It is difficult," his eyes traveled to Aegaeon then to Nebiros not far away, "but I feel like it is worth it."

An adorable smile passed Raquel's face as the tips of her finned ears twitched, "Thank you, Niall…" The young Emperor had never met her Blade, a common Lancer, but throughout the past year of their speaking he had come up more than once. Niall had sympathized with her about losing her Blade, though he had actually died losing his, while hers had simply disappeared as many of the common ones were doing nowadays. Looking around, seeing all these unique and powerful Blades, a small army owned by his sisters… she would be lying if she said she was not jealous.

Looking at the icy core crystal in her hands, to its 'parents' and back to Niall, she felt that painful tug at the loss of her longtime friend, but happy to be accepted so well here. Offered something so precious when by all rights they barely knew her.

She smiled pleasantly, holding the core crystal to her chest, having only one thought in mind. – _These Ardainians are so strange…_ -

There was a flash of light as with the other two and when it cleared a wave of cold air passed through the throne room.

Standing in the center with a small mist of ice crystals and frost was a young looking boy, in regal garb with a jerkin and plate metal on his legs and arms, and a knitted scarf around his neck. His skin was tan with a friendly if oddly stern for a young boy light teal eyes and spiky white hair that barely covered his small ice colored Gormotti ears.

He held his hand out, summoning a spear of ice, twirling it around to form a small snow storm then bowed in a most courtly way, showing he had tiny looking butterfly wings on his back that looked to be made of ice as well, "I am Galahad," a sweet voice for a sweet looking boy as he rose, holding his spear out and it disappeared, "May we do right and find glory together."

The ice spear appeared before Raquel and the small tears at the edge of her eyes nearly turned to ice. Hesitantly she reached out and grabbed it, a feeling of both joy and sorrow spreading throughout her as with barely any effort she spun the spear, ending with a quick move and holding it out, looking nothing like the courtly princess they had all seen as her eyes looked momentarily like someone born to be on the battlefield, "I am Raquel, let us protect our new Emperor together."

The icy boy gave a wide smile, calling back his spear when she let it go, and bowed again, "Of course!"

He was quickly mobbed by his 'parents', Perun breaking her cool for once cooing about how cute he was while Godfrey just picked him up cheering, "MY SON! YOU HAVE YOUR MOTHER'S EYES AND CLEARLY MY PASSION WITHIN THEM!"

Poor Galahad had no idea what was going on, but compared to the other two that had been awoken today, he was enjoying this meeting the most.

Raquel watched the scene amused, "This must be how you felt," she turned back to Niall, clearly asking him.

The young Emperor just smiled lightly, holding out his hand for hers.

Nia watched with a small sigh, her ears lowering and her eyes going flat. She had wanted to make a joke about the Urayan princess' handling of 'lances' but kept her mouth shut. The moment was just too precious to ruin. – _They grow up so fast…_ \- She was sniffling and would stab anyone with the pointy end of her scimitar if they so much as suggested it.

An ungloved hand reached for hers and squeezed it on the armrest.

Nia sulked further, still watching the cute scene of the young couple, "Yea, yea, I'm bein' nice…"

Morag gave a strained grin, "As much as I appreciate that, do you mind getting Herald…"

"Ey? Why's th-!" those Gormotti ears shot up as Nia turned to her lover, gold eyes widening as the look on the off-duty Inquisitor's face was clearly in pain as the grip she had on Nia's hand increased while her other hand was on her stomach. There was some manner of incomprehensible squeak from Nia as she leaned over her lover, "Morag!"

Ignoring the Gormotti woman's calls, as well as the sudden stares, it took everything Morag had to calmly state what needed to be said, "I think my water just broke…"

* * *

 **A/N:** more of my original snark on AO3:

so, i'll admit right now, i'm a major SMT fan and the new Blades maaaaaaaaay have been influenced by some of their designs (Nebiros by Nebiros, Medusa by Naga and Raja Naga, and Galahad by Setanta) also i'm a bit of myth buff so i can't help but play with those in any instance i can~

fun fact, Galahad was originally going to be Jack (as in Jack Frost) but i wound up liking the idea of Galahad more, as its more in line with the Gaelic theme of Mor Ardain and Perun being a Knightly Lancer (Lancelot anyone!)

i was trying to make an orderly sense to this and have it done quickly... but personalities and snark demanded, plus i hadn't planned to actually USE Raquel, it was literally a throwaway name and idea to set up an 'important meeting' but i wound kind of liking her as an outsider's view :3

hope you guys had fun! please any questions, ask away!

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	7. Welcome to the World

**A/N:** man you guys are lucky you don't have to suffer the cliffhanger~ :P

Enjoy!

* * *

It was amazing how fast a room full of Blades could descend into absolute chaos…

"HERALD!" that shout seemed to be the start of it all as Nia called for the massive Blade to come pick up her Diver.

Niall and Raquel stood there staring as the words Morag spoke took longer than necessary for them to realize their meaning and once that happened the Urayan princess had to be the one to stop the young Emperor from running off on his own with no idea what he was doing.

The Blades were extremely ill-equipped to deal with this situation so started panicking, which was hilarious, only for Nia to get her wits about her and shouted one order at all of them, "GO GET THE DOCTOR!"

Nearly twenty Blades immediately left the throne room of Mor Ardain, leaving more holes in the walls and glass ceiling then was probably necessary as clearly they thought that was quicker than trying to cram into the elevator. Clearly more chaos was had.

Brighid and Dromarch stayed, as their Driver's primary Blades they felt obligated, but Herald was obviously the one to pick up Morag who was now wincing from labor pains and transport her where necessary. No one was going to argue since there was literally no smoother ride than Herald's hovering. Nia and Brighid rode on Dromarch, and funnily enough KOS-MOS just ran with them keeping pace easily and blowing holes in walls because clearly straight lines were better than taking a turn. At this point no one was really going to complain with the battle android's excessive nature.

They made it back to Nia and Morag's room, as it had been agreed to have the Inquisitor birth their child there, out of the prying eyes of too many people and with the safety of their Blades nearby, since they had no idea what was going to be born. The royal physician was supposed to be there when all this happened but this wasn't supposed to happen for another TWO WEEKS AT LEAST so they were all fairly antsy.

So much panic and stress was written all over Nia's face, angry at herself for not noticing and even more annoyed at Morag for NOT LISTENING TO HER!

It didn't matter, as soon as Herald set her Driver down on their bed, Nia was next to the Ardainian woman, holding her hand and trying to keep her okay. Subconsciously she had switched into her Blade form, her crystal scimitar appearing out of thin air, and she set it against the bed nearby just in case she needed it… or Morag and the baby needed her ether… or she needed to heal… WHATEVER?!

Every time Morag showed pain on her face and she grit her teeth she squeezed Nia's hand, nearly crushing it and all the Gormotti Blade could do was whimper and bare it.

"Master, is there anything you require of us?" KOS-MOS was the one to finally ask. The four Blades present had no idea what they should be doing or if they could even help in this situation.

Hard gold eyes glared at the battle android, "Guard the door and don't let anyone but the doctor in here." Her voice sounded cold and terrifying as bits of Nia's water ether seemed to slip out and cover the whole room.

"Affirmative." KOS-MOS gave a nod, turning to the others and literally pushing them out. They knew Nia's dark mood wasn't directed at them, just her being defensive of Morag while she was in this delicate state.

"My Lady, should we not-?!" Dromarch _tried_ to object, clearly they too were worried about Lady Morag and what might happen.

"Dromarch," Nia's gold eyes were sharp as she looked at her primary Blade, "Out."

"Lady Morag!?" Brighid tried to get past the battle android, but KOS-MOS had a tight lock around her arm, and seemed to have just picked up Dromarch.

"Brighid," a strained voice called out to the blue flame blade as Morag tried to not show how painful this felt already to her Blade, "I think its best if you-shh!" another contraction hit and the Ardainian woman had bit down, breathing in through her teeth and nearly breaking Nia's hand.

A frown passed the blue flame Blade's face, clearly concerned for her Driver.

"My master has requested you vacate the room, please do so." KOS-MOS dragged the two primary Blades out while only giving Herald a glance. The mecha dragon woman seemed just as concerned but wasn't going to fight her partner.

Once outside the room KOS-MOS stood in front of the door, her ether cannons out and clearly prepared to follow her orders. Dromarch, Brighid and Herald would just have to wait outside until this was all over.

It wasn't long until the doctor was brought in, carried by Wulfric over the giant beast Blade's head as Godfrey spearheaded a charge to get anyone and everyone out of their way. Once again probably causing more chaos than intended.

The doctor was quite rattled but once she was at the Imperial Inquisitor's room she understood and quickly slipped past the daunting looking battle android to do her job. Everyone else was forced to wait outside, glaring into the seemingly oblivious red eyes of KOS-MOS as she stood watch and without care pointed one of her ether cannons at anyone that attempted to get past her. The battle android took her orders VERY seriously.

Even Niall, followed by Raquel and their new Blades, couldn't make any leeway with KOS-MOS as even with him she pointed one of her ether cannons their way and politely asked they refrain from attempting to enter.

So they waited. The Blades lining the hall, anxious to see their Drivers again along with the excitement of finally seeing the baby and what it was going to be. Raquel wound up standing in the hall near the door, the young Emperor pacing past KOS-MOS every few seconds, while their Blades were close by, intrigued by all this commotion on their first day awakened.

* * *

Three hours passed…

KOS-MOS hadn't moved a muscle, aside from pointing her ether cannons at anyone that got too close.

"GAH!" Nim shot up like a bolt, fists near her ears and bouncing, "I can't take it anymore!" she jumped in front of KOS-MOS, glaring at the battle android, "Let us through! Morag is in pain! We all can sense it!" one of those oddly shaped ether cannons pointed at the chimera, causing her to squeak.

"Please desist." Was KOS-MOS' calm response.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Boreas bounced over, getting the other ether cannon pointed at him, "You can't blame us! We're supposed to heal our Driver when she's hurt!" the overgrown Nopon waved his nubby hands around, for once concerned about something other than food.

Red eyes stared at the two healer Blades a moment, as if processing what they said and were doing… then simply raised her ether cannons, which started glowing.

The overgrown Nopon and chimera Blades squeaked, frozen under the threat of one of the most overpowered Blades any one of them had met.

"Hey, now, now, darlings," Dahlia, the ice type bunny motifed healer snuck between the three of them, her large pawlike hands held up as her icy eyes glanced between the battle android the Morag's healing Blades, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, this is completely normal."

"Correct!" Adenine hopped in too, "This may be an unusual circumstance, but it's completely normal for labor to take this long!" the wind Blade rubbed her chin, looking up and pondering, shuffling through her vast knowledge, "In fact there have been some cases of it taking days…"

"DAYS?!" all of Morag's Blades shot up shouting.

"C'mon! Hey! Guys! Let's not be hasty! I know it's a lot to deal with! Trust us we get how you all feel, Nia isn't exactly the easiest Driver around…" Kora hopped up, waving her hands around trying to quell the large group of primarily tanky Blades… only to get glares from Nia's other Blades at her comment, "Eh-hehehe… what? It's true!"

Gorg put his head in his hand, "Not really helping, Kora…"

"My Lady may not be the 'best' Driver," Dromarch narrowed his light blue eyes on the talkative thunder Blade, much to her embarrassment, before turning back to the rest, maintaining his calm demeanor, "But we all know she's a better healer than all of us combined as a Blade…" the white tiger's eyes narrowed on all of them, "We all need to stay calm and respect the wishes of both of them."

"Eeeerrrgh!" a pink and white themed Blade stomped her tiny feet near the back of Morag's Blades. Agate was just as frustrated as the others, and they were lucky she hadn't pulled out her axe, "It's just so hard! We all can feel something's wrong but can't do anything about it!" her light eyes went to Herald, Morag's only other attack type Blade, "Don't you feel the same? It's easy when there's an enemy! Just hit it till it stops! But this?!"

"Mmhmm," Godfrey nodded his head, hands in fists, "We protect! We're supposed to take the damage for her!"

"Yea! And we're supposed to heal her!" Nim was jumping up again.

All of Nia's Blades were pensive. They could see how agitated Morag's Blades were and could understand in some way how they were feeling.

"Calm down, all of you!" the loud booming voice was surprising, holding a command it normally didn't as Dromarch stepped forward from his spot to the side. The healing beast Blade typically wasn't confrontational but even he had his limits in letting things escalate. The white tiger sat down in front of KOS-MOS, both for the safety of Morag's Blades and to hopefully dissuade the excessive Blade from using her power. "We need to keep our heads and not let things escalate."

"No offense Dromarch," Brighid stepped forward, facing down to the white tiger, "But you don't understand what we're going through…"

"Hmm…" he nodded his head, "That I do understand, Lady Brighid. We can't feel what you are feeling same as any living thing can never truly feel what another is going through." The white tiger gave something of an odd smile, "But this is what we Blades were designed for was it not? To care for, examine, and monitor our Drivers, to take care of them and make sure they are alright?" Dromarch turned to KOS-MOS, the one being the least affected by this whole ordeal.

"That is an accurate analysis." The battle android nodded, still not lowering her ether cannons, "by examining the core crystal data, we were designed to monitor our Drivers and assess their abilities and mental states, to pick out pieces for a larger consensus of data about the human condition as it stands now."

Blue brows lowered as Brighid's seemingly closed eyes turned from the battle android, the frown on her face noting her feelings on the matter, and looked at the calm white tiger, "What does this have to do with what's going on now? We want to help our Driver and you are standing in our way…"

"Everything," funnily enough, Dromarch padded his paws on the ground, his tail up and with his smile showing how amused he was, "This is an unprecedented event! A child born from a Driver from their Blade! Something in a way we are all apart of and responsible for!" he gave a deep baritone chuckle, "And now it seems we are at the edge, not only waiting, but well… our nature to protect our Drivers has us at an impasse; you all want to get in an help Lady Morag and we have our orders from my Lady to keep you out!" another chuckle, "In any other situation, we would never be at such odds, but it is because we are Blades and it is our very nature, down to our core crystals to do so…"

Brighid had her arms crossed, tense, "You really think we'd fight over this?"

"Wouldn't we?" Dromarch was grinning, at each and every one of Morag's Blades, "the irony here is that neither side truly has the means to get past the other. Most of Lady Morag's Blades are tanks, with only Nim and Boreas to heal," he nodded at the two as they seemed to blush, "While my Lady, perhaps due to her own nature, has mostly Healers, with several attackers to back up, and while her only tank is Electra, well we all know how effective she is…"

"That's right!" the little electric demon was grinning wide, standing next to KOS-MOS showing her tiny fangs and had her massive toy hammer out ready to take on any of them if need be!

With that persistent grin, Dromarch waved his tail the other way, "It would amount to a war of attrition to be fair, perhaps truly coming down to those two," there was something smug about the way he nodded towards the battle android and the hovering mecha dragon across from her, "Since truthfully, they are the most destructive forces here."

That frown was back on Brighid's face, as she looked at the two ether cannon wielding Blades. She knew Dromarch was right. She herself wasn't much of a damage dealer as one of the best tankers, more of a dodge-tank than one that took damage like Godfrey and Finch, but good at what she was capable of. Same as Dromarch was one of Nia's best healers, but even he couldn't dish out the massive amounts of damage needed to take her down.

Herald and KOS-MOS on the other hand? They were in a league all their own when it came to raw damage, the only one truly able to keep up during their journey was Poppi in her most advanced form, and even then she and Tora weren't here to help solve this situation.

As both sides were getting antsy, Herald seemed to hover in front of KOS-MOS. Those light teal eyes on the female form inside the mecha dragon looked at the battle android sincerely, "I don't want to fight you, KOS-MOS."

Those red eyes on the battle android looked up at the woman, something akin to a strong emotion was clearly there as she stared at Herald for a long time, for once not raising either of her ether cannons, "Neither do I, Herald, but my orders are clear," her hands tightened on her ether cannons, power drawing into them, "Please, do not make me shoot you."

The two just continued to stare at each other, some conversation only they could hear as the rest of the Blades watched. The strongest Blades here, yet they were also the least expressive.

Finally, Herald just sat down on the ground in front of KOS-MOS, seemingly resigned to not move from the spot.

KOS-MOS had her ether cannons charged and ready, but not pointing them at her partner.

"War of attrition, indeed," Gorg was rubbing his chin. He and Vale had been ready to pull out their weapons should the need arise, but hopefully with this display between the two strongest they could avoid a major scuffle. He glanced over at Agate, Morag's only other attacker type Blade, and tried to look sympathetic, "Let's see, with those two out, that means Nia's got me, Vale and Wulfric for attackers, Morag's got Agate, but with the number of healers and tanks involved I'm starting to think we're pretty useless, haha!"

Vale just scoffed, leaning on the wall next to him, "Is that really what you think? Hmp," the gothic Blade just shook her head, "I think with that robot guarding the door and the other one refusing to fight, there's no point to any of this." Dark eyes glanced at Morag's Blades, "You guys can whine all you want, but it's not going to go anywhere…"

Agate glared at the gothic lancer, along with some of Morag's other Blades. Vale didn't care, just waiting for this to all be over or for someone to snap.

Suddenly there was a very loud scream from inside the room.

"THAT'S IT!" and all hell broke loose.

Nim, the one that had shouted jumped towards the door, only to be tackled by Kora. Vale smirked as Agate raised her axe at her, twirling her spear. Finch got Dahlia's bitball in the face. Boras got thrown by Godfrey into Wulfric. Adenine jumped in and uppercutted Aegaeon who had jumped in the way. Perceval tried to stealthily get to the door only to meet the business end of Electra's hammer straight to the face. Newt tried the other side only to get bear hugged by Ursala's teddy and slammed into the other wall and on and on the scuffle went.

Perun stood on the sidelines with her spear out not sure what to do.

Niall had his hand in front of Raquel protecting her with Nebiros' sword while the giant, Medusa and Galahad were ready for someone to get thrown into them.

And somehow amidst this chaos of elements, bitballs, and fists, Herald was still sitting on the floor while KOS-MOS just guarded the door. The rest were keeping the others relatively away, and Brighid and Dromarch were caught between stopping them and joining in.

The chaos only stopped when the door slammed open and a VERY pissed off Blade-form Nia stood there and shouted at the lot of them, "SHUT IT! ALL OF YOU! THERE'S ENOUGH BLOODY YELLING ALREADY!"

Everyone stood stock-still mid-attacks and turned to stare at the door. KOS-MOS politely reminded them all she still had two very big ether cannons and was not against using them.

Gold eyes glared at all the unruly Blades before one of Nia's long ears twitched and she raced back into the room.

Since the door was left open all the Blades immediately tried to get in a position to see inside the room, this was not helped as KOS-MOS continued to block most of the door and point her cannons at them, but what they could see made it obvious that Morag had been moved from the bed, likely to the bathroom and inching any closer to confirm this got a glowing cannon to the face.

There was another shout, Morag's Blades tensely pushing KOS-MOS' invisible barrier, and not long later another cry, this one unfamiliar to all of them.

The newborn cries of a baby just born into Elysium.

The Blades cheered, Niall collapsed into Raquel's arms, and KOS-MOS may have taken a step backwards trying to get a look… still pointing her cannons at anyone that got too close.

* * *

Birth was NOT pretty.

Between Morag screaming bloody murder at her and the actual blood, Nia was seriously considering throttling KOS-MOS for whatever she did to make this all possible. Morag was a strong woman, especially for a mortal, and Nia could now attest to this better than anyone else as this was the only time she'd ever heard the woman give more than a grunt at a 'wound' not to mention she had to have broken Nia's hand at least six times during this whole bloody labor thing!

An hour in and the doctor had suggested they move Morag to the tub, not only to spare the bedsheets what was to come, but also that the warm water would help sooth any pain. Nia agree just because water was her element and if anything she could help passively heal her lover easier with her surrounded in her element.

Two more grueling hours of watching the woman she loved in such pain, a pain Blades NORMALLY had no idea about, and then she heard the fight breaking out. In a strange way she could feel the unease of her own Blades as well as empathize with Morag's Blades as she felt the same way for the mortal woman.

That did not mean she didn't have a bloody headache from all this tension everywhere and enjoyed probably more then she should have yelling at the lot of idiots that couldn't keep calm over something as simple as labor!

All of that melted away as Nia heard Morag call for her, low enough she was probably the only one that heard it. Rushing to her side, she held the woman's hand, touching her forehead to Morag's sweaty one as she held on tight, "I'm here, not goin' anywhere…"

Morag made a grin, clearly wanting to say something back but only managing to clinch her teeth at the pain.

Nia just held her tight, one more push and the doctor was pulling a wet little baby out of the bloody water. A second later and there was a cry that melted the Gormotti Flesh-Eater's heart.

"Let's see," the doctor looked the baby over, holding up its hands and feet as it fidgeted uncontrollably, "All ten fingers and toes," she held the baby up, "No strange marks, no weird crystals, and…" with a smirk the doctor pet the baby's head, "Looks like you two have yourselves a healthy baby Gormotti girl," reaching down the doctor held up the umbilical cord, "Mind cutting this?"

Mechanically, Nia moved her sword over to the doctor, just staring at their little girl and not even really paying attention to anything else she said. Absently she cut the cord, watching as the doctor said something about cleaning her up and moving to the sink.

"Nia," a hand moved on the Flesh-Eater's shoulder and she finally looked away from the doctor, seeing Morag's tired face, "Mind helping me up?"

"Ah! Y-yea, sure," immediately she reached into the tub and helped pull the taller woman out.

"I wouldn't move around if I were you, you just gave birth," The doctor chided, not really protesting much, just warning them, "You're still going to be in pain-!"

"I'm not staying in that bloody water longer than necessary!" Morag growled as Nia helped her move to their separate shower. It was only for a minute, just to clean off, and Nia did most everything including helping Morag stand. The Gormotti Blade knew better than anyone how stubborn the Ardainian woman could be, hell this whole situation was a testament to that, so Nia knew it was better to just lightly help her along than to really argue.

By the time they were done, the doctor was done cleaning and inspecting their baby girl, and once Morag was dried enough in a damp bathrobe, she handed the baby to the mother, "Congratulations."

Tentatively, Morag reached for the baby, holding her stiffly as she wasn't sure what to do and worried about everything. If Nia wasn't standing next to her, basically holding her up, she would have collapsed under the weight of it all.

"Hey there, c'mon, yer tired, let's get you two ta bed, yea?" Nia quietly whispered to the woman, knowing this was a lot for Morag, even with everything that just happened. The black haired woman just kept staring at the wrapped up baby in her arms, not saying a word or responding beyond moving where Nia tugged her.

This was their baby. Morag let Nia guide her to their bed, not even aware that KOS-MOS was still playing bouncer at their door since it was left open, and didn't even notice the looks they were getting. It wasn't until she sat down on their bed and Nia finally left her side that she snapped out of it enough to look around.

"You lot heard me! Git!" Nia had the door in her hand, letting the doctor slip through as she glared at the throng of Blades, "We had a lot gone on today, you all can see her tomorrow!" there was a chorus of 'AWW!'s but the Gormotti Flesh-Eater was adamant, even putting her foot down when Niall tried to worm his way in, "Ey! Even you! Even the Emperor and his new bride gotta shove off for tonight! Let the woman rest!" more groaning was the overall response.

"Brighid!" Morag called out to the door.

"Yes, Lady Morag!" the blue flame Blade seemed to push past all the other Blades and make it to the door, warily eyeing KOS-MOS and wondering what the battle android would do.

"Nia, please…" the Ardainian woman called to her clearly overprotective lover, she wanted her primary Blade here. If anyone was going to see their daughter right now, she wanted it to be the Blade that helped raise her. She owed her that much.

"Tch, yea, fine," Nia crossed her arms, nodding her head and KOS-MOS let the blue flame Blade pass. Feeling a bit fidgety, Nia looked across all their Blades, landing on her own primary one, "Dromarch, get in here," she didn't acknowledge his smug little smirk as he padded in, he was like her Da so if anyone he should see their little girl too. Once the white tiger was in Nia turned to the battle android, "KOS-MOS, you and Herald watch the door, ey? Then you two can see her tomorrow, same with the rest of you!"

"Affirmative, Master." "Of course, Nia." Were KOS-MOS and Herald's responses as they took up their positions.

"WAAAAAAAAIT! NIA!" Kora jumped up and down excitedly, waving her hands, "You gotta tell us! What's the baby!" the electric fist-fighter wasn't the only one that was eager to find out, but she was the one loud enough to ask.

With a small annoyed huff, Nia held onto the door, addressing the rest of the Blades, "If ya must know, its girl and seems she's a Gormotti!" the smug smile that spread across Nia's face at that was unconscious, too proud and excited by the news.

The rest of the Blades gave a cheer, some of the girls even squealing, as Nia closed the door on them and decided to just let KOS-MOS and Herald deal with the rest.

She wanted to see her little girl too now.

As Nia approached the bed, she saw Morag had sat back against a pile of pillows piled on that side, Brighid at her side as the new mother fed her baby for the first time.

"This is so weird," the Ardainian woman still had a shell-shocked look on her face as she gently held the baby to her breast. She was so tiny, with a bit of black hair and tiny little ears flat on her head, round and floppy as they weren't developed enough right now to stand up like her 'father's'.

Nia just sat down on the end of the bed, happy to see this, "Heh, just wait till her fangs come in, then it'll be a lot more weird." The tired glare Morag sent her wasn't enough to dissuade Nia's smile, showing her own fangs and wiping away some of the tears at the edge of her eyes.

Morag couldn't glare at that for too long, as she could almost feel tears coming to her own eyes, before turning to Brighid, trying to just shake the feeling away, "She's kidding, right?"

The blue flame Blade just had a happy smile on her face, proud of her Driver, chuckling lightly, "I'm afraid I wouldn't know, Lady Morag, but I wouldn't doubt it."

There was a deep chuckle from the floor, where Dromarch had laid down, comfortably close but not intruding, "I'm sorry to say Lady Morag, but there is some truth to my Lady's jest, Gormotti have fangs other human species don't have, and they do tend to come in a bit earlier than the rest of their teeth. Apologies in advance."

With a deep sigh, Morag just collapsed into the pillows, making sure not to disturb their little baby as she finished up. This was all exhausting and so new, she honestly didn't know what to think. Nia crawled up the bed to be on her other side, causing the Ardainian woman to lightly glare at her, "This is your fault, why did I fall in love with you?"

Nia just grinned, unaffected by the glare or accusations, as she reached over and pet their little girl's head gently, just wanting to touch her and make sure this was all real as she nuzzled Morag's arm as much as she could, "Wasn't it cause you thought I was cute?"

Morag just shook her head, lying back as comfortably for her and the baby as possible, "That was exhausting, I think fighting Malos and Aion was easier…"

A smirk rose on Nia's lips as she watched the woman, "Think that was easier on my hand too." She chuckled when light brown eyes opened enough to glare at her.

Brighid smiled at the two, amused by their banter but it was clear just how happy and exhausted they both were, their baby laying out on Morag's chest as this was quite an ordeal for her as well, "Lady Morag," the blue flame Blade got their attention, "Have either of your thought of what you're going to name her?"

The two shared a look, almost as if confirmation they hadn't, then Nia just shrugged, scratching one of her ears, "Can't say I got anything special to give her, so how about you, Morag?"

The Ardainiain woman looked down at the little baby on her chest, raising one hand to gently pet the small bit of black hair and her tiny ears on her head, "I think… Ciara, how does that sound?"

"Ciara?" one of those cream colored brows rose, looking at her lover then to the baby and back, "Can't say I don't mind. It mean anything?"

"Little dark one," there was a little chuckle in Brighid's voice as she stood up, arms crossed and amused by her Driver, "A bit on the nose don't you think, Lady Morag."

Light brown eyes just glared, "I just gave birth after three hours of labor, _after_ dealing with several hours of standing around listening to senators and generals go on and on about nonsense," she picked her baby up and looked her over, her blue-for-now-eyes opening slightly and yawning at her mother, bringing a smirk to the Ardainain woman's face, "I think I can be forgiven being a bit literal for now…"

There was a chuckle from both Dromarch and Nia, the later grinning back at Brighid before turning to her lover and their baby, "I like it, sounds good to me." She reached over, playing with the little girl's hands, nearly coming to tears when Ciara grabbed her own clawed finger.

Morag just smiled, watching as Nia tried to play with the newborn, "Ciara Ladair," her smile grew with the look she got from Nia, as she held up their baby, "I think I like that." She brought the baby up and kissed her forehead before laying her back down, nuzzling the sweet soft thing.

Nia just smiled watching the two, laying her head down next to Morag and letting her hand drift over both of them, "Yea, think I can like it as well."

At the agreement, Morag turned over as much as she could, leaning over Nia, watching as her long ears went back and kissed her in appreciation. They'd done it, their baby was finally here and neither of them were worse for wear, just incredibly exhausted.

Brighid and Dromarch looked on like proud parents, sharing a look before the blue flame Blade moved to sit in a chair in the corner, "You two should rest, we'll watch out from here on." It amused Brighid the looks the two gave her, but soon enough they were out, Ciara yawning and joining her parents in sleep on her mother's chest. It had been a long day, they deserved the rest.

Plus it was absolutely adorable and Brighid wondered if she could get a quick sketch in her journal before any of them moved.

* * *

 **A/N:** Blades are so useless in a crisis~ i mean seriously guys~

originally i was leaning towards Morgana or Morgan for the name, as its kind of become one of those default names people know and the whole gaelic theme... but i felt it was too close to Morag for my liking and Mor Ardain hasn't really shown a penchent for hereditary naming trends, so wondered around the net and found Ciara and i just fell in love with it~

and yes it literally means 'little dark one'... primarily used to denote people with dark hair :P Morag you're lazy~

till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	8. The Results?

**A/N:** the results? :D

enjoy~

* * *

Herald and KOS-MOS sat outside their Drivers' room.

Well, Herald sat, with her mecha dragon in its powered down state, folded up on the floor next to the door, while the battle android remained standing, being on alert as always. Herald knew KOS-MOS took her orders very seriously, and next to any other Blade, Herald would seem the same.

But even she wasn't as robotically diligent as the battle android.

Nervous glances went to the side frequently as Herald counted down the minutes they'd been on watch. The other Blades had remained for some time, hoping to wear our or wait out the two robotic Blades, but the smarter ones dragged them off, knowing that was impossible. There was something amusing about Dahlia having Finch under one arm and dragging Electra away by her arm. As soon as the fighting stopped Adenine was back in Wulfric's care, and the two were pestering Medusa again in no time. Perun and Galahad had to prod Godfrey with various Justice-themed incentives to get him to move. Ursula had apologized to Newt and was patching her up when the Emperor Niall had offered to any of them willing to be his escort as he took his bride around for a tour and the military oriented Blade had jumped at it, along with the whole trio of swordsmen that claimed to be the Emperor's bodyguards. Vale had gone off on her own, bored of the whole affair now that the 'fun' was over, and Agate and Gorg went to go get sweets and probably presents for their Drivers for tomorrow. Nim was still being antsy and depressed, but Kora pulled her away, yammering on about who knew what, and Boreas had disappeared once things were no longer interesting, likely stealing food from the kitchens again.

Of all the Blades present, that left Brighid and Dromarch in the room with their Drivers, and Herald and KOS-MOS on watch.

And Herald still didn't know what do, say, or how to respond to this whole situation. She almost missed the quiet solitude of their base back in the wilds of Elysium.

It was the dead of night when the door to their Drivers' room cracked open, as slowly and quietly as possible, before Nia, back in her Driver form, stuck her head at out glanced around cautiously, "Ey?" she whispered up to KOS-MOS, "The lot of them bugger off?"

"If you are referring to the other Blades and their disappearance, Master, then yes, they are no longer present at this time." Was KOS-MOS' clipped response. She remained standing and on watch, not even facing her Driver or properly modulating her voice for the late hour.

"Shhh!" the Gormotti Driver nearly hissed at her Blade, quietly sidestepping her way out, holding something, as she gently closed the door behind her and sat down with a huge sigh, "Oh man, that was close…"

"Nia," Herald asked quietly, looking down at the small Gormotti woman as she adjusted her seating to hold the object in her arms, "What is that?"

"Oh this?" there was a cheeky grin on the Flesh-Eater's face, her gold eyes shinning as Nia pulled back the top of the bundle to reveal the sleeping face of her and Morag's newborn baby, "Just Ciara, say 'Hi' Ciara to yer Ma and Da's Blades?" the baby didn't so much as move, still apparently asleep as Nia softly pet her wrinkled little round ears on her head.

For a moment Herald and KOS-MOS just stared at Nia as she rocked the baby, an all too pleased smile on her face that just would not go away.

"Master," the battle android was looking down at her Driver, "This is the child that resulted from your copulation with Morag?"

There was a bit of a sputter, Nia quickly correcting herself and holding her baby closer as her ears went flat and a sour look passed her face, "Make it sound so impersonal, ey…"

Red eyes on the battle android just blinked, and for the first time since she received her orders to guard this door did KOS-MOS unsummon her ether cannons and crouch down to get a closer look at the child, "The black coloring clearly comes from Morag, while the fact she is Gormotti proves some data came from you, though it would seem to be from your Driver form and not your Blade form."

Another bit of a sputter, looking like something dropped on Nia's shoulders with the way she reacted, before correcting herself and glaring at her weird Blade, "Oi, can you keep it down!" she growled in a harsh whisper, "I kinda want to keep her asleep 'fore she gets hungry and wakes up her Ma! Got it!"

It took a moment but those artificial red eyes pulled away from the baby to meet her Driver's gold ones, "Affirmative Master, adjusting oral volume." Then taking it a step further, KOS-MOS actually sat down next to her Driver, her red eyes returning to the baby who seemed to squirm a bit, "Might I ask a question, Master?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," Nia grumped, rocking the baby a bit.

"Was she born with a core crystal?" from what she could see, KOS-MOS could not make out a single core crystal or bit of glowing skin on the child, but something still felt off to the battle android.

"No?" a cream colored grey brow rose as Nia stared at her Blade skeptically, before looking down at her baby, "Can't say I saw one, neither did the doctor from what she said," doubtfully, Nia opened up the small blanket she'd used to wrap the baby in, giving her a good little look before wrapping her up tight again, didn't want her to get cold or nothing.

"Fascinating," KOS-MOS kept staring at he baby Gormotti, "by all visual analysis, she appears to be just another Gormotti child." There was a snort from the 'father', not that the android paid any attention, "But there is something unusual about this child."

"Unusual?" that had Nia's attention, her gold eyes zeroing in on the light type Blade, "like, how? Anything to worry about?"

"I do not believe so, Master," KOS-MOS tilted her head as if trying to understand, "Just an inconsistency with her development. Morag was intaking a large amount of ether energy from her Blades, Herald and yourself included, and while there is some ether residue around this child, there is no core crystal. Without that I cannot access her full data to assess her true assignment and type."

For a moment Nia looked worried, but as KOS-MOS went on that disappeared somewhat and she wound up just flatly glaring at the Blade, "She's just a baby, KOS-MOS, think we can handle that, yea?" she glanced back at Herald, who oddly gave a reciprocating nod, before turning back to the battle android, "Sides, for all we know, all that ether was just to make sure she was healthy, some residual whatsit like you was saying, proly just cause I'm her Da, ey?"

"That is theoretically possible, but still unknown," those red eyes turned to her Driver, staring at her for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Wut?" gold eyes narrowed on the battle android as those Gormotti ears tilted back, just waiting for any weird thing KOS-MOS was going to say.

"You are a Flesh-Eater, Master." Was KOS-MOS' response, her gaze not leaving.

It really was starting to freak Nia out, "Yea, what of it?"

An odd little tilt of KOS-MOS' head as again she seemed to be processing data, "It is my understanding you are part human, this form of yours not only appears visually to be a normal Gormotti, but also registers as one to my sensors. It even hides your core crystal, correct?"

Those gold eyes got narrower and even more suspicious, "Yea."

"Then, theoretically, there is a possibility your child could be a Flesh-Eater, simply in its dormant human form." It was a sound conclusion, at least to KOS-MOS.

Nia looked annoyed, eyes nearly shut with how flat she was staring at the battle android as a minute frown tugged the edges of her lips down, "That's a bit of stretch, don'tcha think?"

"It is possible," KOS-MOS was staring at the wall across from them, "From the prior data I have received there is a second possibility, as that one does seem to contradict the gathered data so far."

That got Nia's attention, her eyes now curious on the battle android and her ears perked up, "Oh yea? What'cha figure from all that's been goin' on today?"

"A potential pattern to the core crystal selection for new Blades, and if the theory is correct, it would perhaps explain the variance in the non-Blade offspring." There was something almost excited in her monotonous voice. In fact, KOS-MOS didn't even wait for her Driver or partner to express interest before delving right into her theory, "The sample size is still too small to form accurate data, as duplicates of each coupling would be required for comparison analysis. Several in fact, from each to confirm the findings or to develop a set ratio to any variance…"

"Ey, you mind speakin' in a way I can actually understand for once?" Nia's head was tilting at an odd angle, trying to pick out the important bits from the excited big words the battle android was throwing out. She was also trying to figure out what this had to do with her baby!

KOS-MOS seemed to pause for a moment, considering her next phrasing, "From what was observed today, it appears there is a trend in the element type aligning with the 'mother' of the relation and subsequent weapon type to the 'father', though with Galahad the later was proven to not be absolute. Though if data from prior cases is to be observed, there is an argument that base type might also be affected by the 'mother' if also not absolute, as Pyrrha was a Blade-Eater and not a Blade, but there is still margin of error there since Pandoria no longer retains a full core crystal and…"

"Gah! Smaller sentences! Smaller words!" Nia was waving one of her hands around, almost speaking at a normal volume and the only reason she stopped was because she picked up a murmur from Ciara, "Ack! Shh, shh, go back to sleep lil' one, ey…" quickly she was rocking her baby back to slumber before glaring gold eyes at the battle android.

Red eyes stared at the baby before looking back up to the fierce eyes of her Driver, "There is a possibility of error, but it appears with Blades the element follows the 'mother' of the relation."

"There, now was that so hard?" gold eyes glared flatly at the android.

KOS-MOS seemed to blink, considering her Driver's words, "It is inaccurate." She noticed her Driver glare harder, "Though it is succinct, and what can be surmised from the gathered data so far."

"Tch," Nia snorted, rocking her baby as she thought about it for a moment, "So what yer sayin' is, if we follow that logic with me and Morag, chances are lil' Ciara here is just a mortal like her Ma, right?"

"It will take some time for a proper analysis to be sure, but for now it appears she does not have accelerated growth as indicated in the other non-Blade crossbreeding as well as a lack of a core crystal." KOS-MOS just absently nodded, staring at the child.

"I'll take that as a yes," there was a long-suffering sigh from the Gormotti Driver.

"Yes, Master." Was finally a succinct response from the battle android.

Nia just glared at her, "Sooooo…" she took a moment to glance over at Herald who had been staring at the baby this whole time, before looking flatly back at KOS-MOS, "This meaning anything for you?" she made a small gesture towards the mecha dragon behind her, "Got any plans for lil' core crystals of yer own, ey?"

KOS-MOS seemed as oblivious as ever, still staring at the wall with that look like she was calculating big numbers for something incomprehensible, "More data would be necessary."

Flabbergasted, Nia just shook her head and stared at the ceiling, "Architect, how thick can ya make 'em…"

"Though with the data already received, it would be pertinent for myself and those with rare traits to propagate, otherwise they would be lost to the next generation of Blades." Just came out of nowhere from the battle android.

It sounded like something heavy may have fallen over, but Nia wasn't going to check on Herald as she was eyeing her Blade queerly. One second she seemed completely oblivious to any suggestions, the next she's basically flat out stating it, "R-right, and what you mean by that?"

Blankly, KOS-MOS just turned to her Driver, "I am the only light type Blade that has a chance to consistently produce other light type Blades," again a strange sound like something large and heavy was toppling over, but neither Nia nor KOS-MOS paid it any mind, "As with my inspection of the Aegis children, Mythra is the only other known light type Blade, but as she is an Aegis, and partnered with a human, it is unlikely she would produce another light type core crystal naturally. Therefore the only conclusion is that the responsibility of producing more light type Blades would fall on to me."

Nia was honestly too shell-shocked by that concise statement to do anything but stare at her Blade for a good long while. When she finally came to she shook her head and coughed into her hand, "Sooo… not going to be looking for any romantic partners, I take it?"

It was pretty obvious at this point Herald was staring at her partner and VERY interested in the answer to this question.

For a long time KOS-MOS seemed to have that look like she was processing a lot of information, quietly staring off into space, before her eyes blinked and she responded, "It would be ineffective to limit production of any type of Blade with unique variables to a singular coupling."

Gold eyes stared flatly at her Blade, "For some reason I feel disappointed in you."

"However," KOS-MOS continued on as if she didn't hear anything, "Limiting the coupling to a singular pair would result in increased chances of reproducing the results, should there be various other factors involved. This is a reason Adenine gave me why she persisted in here research with Wulfric, and as the results of their consecutive core crystals have not been seen yet, it would be best to hold off on any speculation until the results are presented."

Nia's look got even flatter, "You just completely avoided answering my question didn't you…"

"Merely stating the operative facts, Master." Was KOS-MOS' succinct answer.

"Yea, and I know when I'm hearin' bullshite," the Gormotti Driver couldn't help but shake her head, staring at the ceiling, honestly wishing for some kind of help with her wily Blade.

"As a matter of preference, Master," KOS-MOS offered out of nowhere, not looking at either of the two and just staring at the wall like normal, "If the need or opportunity arose, and a light type core crystal was required, I would prefer the one produced to have my level of capability." She turned to the side and Nia swore those red eyes weren't really looking at her, but slightly higher, just in her direction, "In order to assure that, or increase the chances of a Blade produced with my elemental affinity and near or above my capabilities, I would have to find a partner that matched my own or surpassed them."

An odd little smile spread on the humanoid face of the woman inside the mecha dragon as Herald seemed to finally calm down enough to sit back at ease.

One of those cream colored grey Gormotti ears twitched as Nia glanced from her own weird Blade to Morag's overly powerful one, "Right, this just got awkward." With a bit of a grunt and a stretch, Nia stood up, carefully holding her precious baby as she looked down skeptically at the two mechanized Blades before landing back on her own, "So, anything else to add there, KOS-MOS? Or you got all the data you need?"

Those mechanical red eyes seemed to wonder off a second before they returned to her Driver, "It might be impractical to produce an effective means to persuade the other Blades to attempt producing element and weapon type combinations not already seen within our current group, but those with unique traits should consider producing as many core crystals as possible to ensure the next generation of Blades has them."

That got a raised brow from Nia as she bounced on her toes, "Ya keep sayin' unique traits, like what?"

KOS-MOS tilted her head, "My element for one, Godfrey being a Gormotti Blade which he passed to Galahad. Boreas as a Nopon Blade. Gorg and Sheba as Uryan Blades. Newt and Dagas as fire type Blades, as well as Brighid for her unique blue flames. Dromarch in particular for his weapon type. Dahlia and Finch for their unique species types-!"

"Alright, alright!" Nia waved one of her hands and sighed, "I get it. I get it. Keep forgetting you can be extremely literal at times." Brushing her free hand through her bangs, and holding Ciara with the other, the Gormotti Flesh-Eater just gave her Blade a funny look, "Some of those seem fairly tame, but others…" the idea of Finch and Boreas having kids made Nia mentally gag, "Yesh, ya sure they can even… dunno how to say it without sounding weird, but ey, 'breed' with other Blades? Like could Boreas even…" suddenly dark thoughts entered her mind and immediately she shook her head, "Nope! Nope! Nope! I don't even wanna think about it!"

"By conventional ideations, you and Morag should not have been able to conceive," was KOS-MOS' apt response, "therefore it stands to reason that with the PROJECT NOAH program and the adaptive function of all the nanomachines that comprise all life from Alrest, it is indeed possible."

"Right," Nia just gave a firm nod, reaching down to open the door, "Now with all these horrible images in my head, I'm going back to sleep in the arms of the mother of my child and if I remember any of this by morning I'm getting pissed straight away and not waking up until I can't remember my own name…"

"Affirmative, Master." KOS-MOS just gave a nod as her Driver slipped back into her room.

"Good night, Nia." At least Herald was being polite about it.

"Night, Herald… KOS-MOS," Nia begrudgingly addressed her own Blade, safely in the room for all of a second before she popped her head back out and glared at the battle android, "Don't you dare start 'testing' things out here, hear me?!"

"Affirmative, Master." The battle android responded bluntly.

Neither Nia nor Herald missed that KOS-MOS didn't even deny the insinuation.

"Good night, Master." KOS-MOS added at the end.

"Shut it," Nia growled as she slipped back behind the door, closing it and grumbling about androids on her way back to bed.

* * *

 **A/N:** KOS-MOS can be surprisingly succinct and easy to work with when she wants to be~

and yes, she knew exactly what she was doing and EXACTLY what she was saying, ufufufufu... freakin' robots~

till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	9. Nopon Advice

**A/N:** the unnecessarily long family drama chapter focusing on my Yuri-fangirl-love~

i'm a terrible person and i know it ;P

ENJOY!

* * *

Adjusting to life with a baby turned out to be an arduous task. Having a lot of Blades wanting to 'help' also turned out to not be nearly as helpful as anyone thought.

"I don't wanna do it! Why you gotta make me do it!" Nia's whining from the bathroom could be heard easily in the side study in their room.

"Sorry my Lady, I don't have the hands necessary for this task, it's up to you!" the smug chuckle in Dromarch's voice could be heard as well. Nia had given him a hard time for not having hands and being humanoid for ages, now it seemed he could finally get some manner of revenge. "Do your best my Lady, I'm sure you can handle it!"

"Shut your mouth you smug sonva-!" Ciara started whining causing Nia to squeak, "Shh, shh, it's okay, Da can do this… it's not that hard, Ma does it all the time…"

"Indeed, that's why you're doing it now," another chuckle from the white tiger, "You can't very well expect her to do everything, that's just impolite. She carried her for nine months and gave birth and still needs to feed her, don't be such a lay-about my Lady."

There was another growl from the Gormotti Blade, "Shut it." Ciara's continued cries ended the conversation.

It took all of Morag's willpower, hearing her baby cry, to not get up from her desk and rush over to help.

Brighid was snickering behind her hand, both at Nia and Dromarch's banter and the sight of her Driver having to physically hold onto the desk to stop herself from getting up. "Come now Lady Morag, I'm sure they can handle a simple changing…"

"I'm not so sure about that…" in the less than a month since Ciara was born, Morag found out that Blades were next to useless when it came to handling an actual baby. Nia tried, she really did, but beyond her protective nature she was completely oblivious to the amount of work taking care of a baby actually entailed.

Plus being away from her job even more than necessary was making Morag antsy, and with her brother's wedding looming over, she wanted to be fit enough to be of some actual use by then. The Special Inquisitor had barged into her brother's office, ignoring Raquel blushing in the corner, and demanded she be taken off leave!

Niall had taken one look at Nia behind Morag with a flat look on her face, holding his niece, who was squirming and reaching for her mother, before looking back at his sister with even flatter blue eyes.

It had ended up with the imperial siblings having a glare off, which Morag always won, and Niall relented saying she could take 'light duty', meaning some physical activity but most of her normal Inquisitorial duties would be delegated to a small team; namely her Blades and any of Nia's that wanted to volunteer, and she'd be mostly at her desk. He cared about his little adorable niece and wanted her to have access to her mom as much as possible!

Sitting at her desk and having to physically hold herself down, Morag hated to admit, even just to herself mentally, that maybe her brother was right and she shouldn't be rushing to get back to her job.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" there was a laugh from the com device on Morag's desk, "Oh man, Father, the look on your face Morag!"

Light brown eyes turned to the device and just glared, "Shut it."

Mythra just kept laughing, dipping out of sight of the communication device for a bit to get it all out.

Brighid, behind Morag, was fighting laughing herself and chiding Mythra for being so unprofessional. An Inquisitorial glare had the blue flame Blade looking away innocently.

The semi-on duty Inquisitor turned those hard eyes back to the screen, "As I was saying, Godfrey should be headed to Leftheria. He will act as my aide there, understand?"

"Yea, yea," Mythra did a little wave-salute, still smiling cheekily, "He showed up the other day with Perun and wouldn't shut up about everything that happened over there. We'll have to plan a trip and see this little girl of yours!"

A blush passed over the Imperial Inquisitor's face, Morag was still getting used to the idea that she was a mother and that her and Nia were really parents. Sure, they'd had the longest time to come to terms with the idea while she was pregnant compared to the other members of their party, but the second Ciara was born it was like all that prep went out the window. Being a parent was so new, different and terrifying she didn't really want to admit it. Plus, EVERYONE wanted to see her baby… and her protective nature had several impolite words to say about that.

The grin Mythra was giving the Ardainian woman through the communication device got a bit smaller, almost gentle by her normally so smug standards, "It's a bit overwhelming isn't it? Totally not what you expected and you just can't help but want to run and protect them every time you so much as hear a peep from them, huh?"

As it just so happened Ciara made another cry, Nia cursed having messed something up, Dromarch seemed to be 'helping' and once again Morag's eyes went straight to her study door and her hands gripped tightly on the desk.

She had to swallow tightly as a second later her baby was laughing along with the white tiger and Nia was telling both of them to 'Shut it!' like normal.

Morag released a breath she didn't even know she was holding, talking back to Mythra but her light brown eyes were still on the door, "It is… certainly, an eye-opening experience."

"Hehe," the light type Blade just winked through the com, "Just wait till she gets old enough to walk around and starts exploring, or when she's big enough to get into scuffles with the other kids! I swear Ethos and Logos just will not get along and then Pathos wants to join in even though she's still a lot smaller than them…" there was a deep exasperated sigh, "I swear I'm the only one that worries about them this much, Pyra doesn't seem concerned about Logos getting rough with Ethos and Rex is completely oblivious… I'm the one that always has to break things up because I can't stand hearing either of my girls crying!"

The further Mythra's story went the more color drained from Morag's face. Ciara was helpless now, but worst they had to deal with was her crying for food or to be changed… the Special Inquisitor hadn't even thought about her getting up and walking around eventually! Just imagining all the things she could get into and the dangers involved! It would be like dealing with Niall as a toddler again!

Unconsciously, Morag's grip on the desk got tighter.

"Um, Lady Morag?" seeing how pale her Driver was getting, Brighid stepped forward, placing her hand on her shoulder to see if she was okay. At least she was breathing, so that was a start.

"I… am… fine… Brighid," her left eye may have been twitching.

There was another cry from Ciara and without a word or even thinking Morag was up and out the door.

"Oh, hey! C'mon! I did it right!" Nia of course was complaining.

"That's not why she's crying!" was the mother's response.

Brighid had to hide her smirk behind her hand.

"Man, she is ON that isn't she?" Mythra was smirking through the com.

The keen-eyed Blade turned to the communication device on Lady Morag's desk, Brighid couldn't help showing the proud smile on her face, "Yes, well, she does have some experience. Taking care of Niall at such a young age at least helped prepare her..." there was another whine from the room, though it didn't sound like it was from Ciara, likely Nia trying get attention and apologize for something while Morag was focused on feeding their baby, "Well, somewhat."

The smile on the light type Aegis became a bit more gentle, "How's Nia holding up?"

Brighid leaned over a bit, getting a better view and spotting the edge of the Gormotti woman leaning on her Driver with their backs to the door. It was cute. The blue flame Blade just sat back in the Inquisitor's chair, an amused smile on her face, "Better I think than any of us normally would be in this situation."

"Heh," Mythra chuckled, shaking her head, "Yea, who knew under all that rough scoundrel of an appearance was someone capable of being so nice and caring," she eyed the blue flame Blade, "Think I'll tell the others we should stop by. At least with Godfrey and Perun here they can be trusted to babysit and help out Vess, don't think these three are old enough to be traveling yet…"

Propping her head on one hand, Brighid nodded, "It would probably be for the best. We're still not sure on everything about Ciara, just how mortal she is and what can affect her."

"Yea, kinda surprised there," Mythra crossed her arms with a sigh through the com, "I was betting on a Flesh-Eater honestly, maybe look like Nia only taller like Morag, right?" another shrug, "Guess I was half right, she's got Nia's ears, right?"

Another charming smile pulled up on the Jewel of the Empire's face, "Indeed, they're most adorable."

"Haha, oh man, I can't wait!" Mythra was almost squealing, then leaned in close to the com with an extremely smug look, "So hey? When are you going to-!"

The call suddenly disconnected.

Dark blue eyebrows were low as Brighid flatly stared at the blank screen with a minute frown on her face.

She was going to completely ignore the fact that her finger was on the power button.

* * *

The port was busy and full of lots of people moving and bustling about. Since it was Mor Ardain it was mostly military, the clank of heavy regulation boots moving this way and that with the occasional footsteps of the few remaining Titan weapons.

Tiny little feet moved about with a squeaky bounce through the bustling crowd, trying to get off the transport, "Ugh! Meh! Meh! Tora cannot believe how crowded Imperial Port is!"

"Yes, it does seem very crowded, Masterpon," a husky femininely modulated voice responded to the large Nopon.

Tora grumbled with a few more 'Meh's before the lovely android next to him simply picked him up, turning on her back boosters and flew the two of them from the bottom of the port to the second floor of the Imperial Palace.

"Mehmehmeh!" Tora's stripped Nopon ear-wings flapped about when Poppi finally set him down, being dazed momentarily before shaking it off. He turned on his creation and pointed at her with an ear-wing finger-thing, "Poppi needs to warn Masterpon when she decide to do something like that!"

The young woman looking Artificial Blade just chuckled politely behind her hand, "Sorry, Masterpon, it just seemed the best way out of that situation."

"Meh-meh…" Tora grumbled, putting his tiny hands on his hips and looking away as if he disapproved…

Only to notice the group of Ardainian guards pointing rifles at them.

"MEH-MEH-MEH!" he flapped his wings, Poppi jumping in front of her Masterpon with her arms crossed ready to defend should the need arise.

"What are you doing up here?" one of the helmeted guards called out.

"HOW did you get up here?!" another one called out.

"Mehmehmeh!" Tora flapped his ear-wings wildly, "Is misunderstanding! Tora friend! Tora friend!" he waved to Poppi, trying to get her to lower her aggressive stance, even if his wing-ear was reaching for her sabre just in case, "Tora and Poppi just here to see friends! Nia and Morag!"

"Did you say Morag?" one of the soldiers lowered his gun, tilting his helmet, "Would you be speaking about the Imperial Inquisitor, Morag Ladair?"

"Yes-yes! Friends!" Tora gave a little fanged smile, waving his ear-wings around excitedly, "She, Nia, Poppi and Tora go way back!"

"Yes, all the way back to dropping water tower on Morag in Torigoth!" the purple haired beauty of an Artificial Blade smiled brightly at the memory.

"Shhh! Poppi! Don't mention that!" even if her Masterpon was freaking out that she mentioned such a thing.

The Ardainian soldiers pointed their guns at them even harder, if that was possible, and Tora could see his life flashing before his beady eyes.

"Ardainian soldiers, please desist." A calm monotonous voice called out behind the group of soldiers.

A few of them recognized that monotonous voice and started trembling, turning around and quickly getting out of the way.

There stood two Blades, one looking like a young woman with light blue hair and red eyes with advanced looking white armor, while the other appeared to be a woman with teal eyes and light purple hair attached to the body of a black mechanical dragon.

"H-Herald and K-KOS-MOS?!" one of the soldiers sputtered, dropping his gun and backing away.

"Captain, who are these Blades?" clearly a junior soldier asked the startled man as the two Blades slowly approached.

"T-Those are two of Lady Morag's Blades!" the captain gulped audibly behind his mask as the over powered Blades passed between the soldiers, "They're said to be stronger than the Jewel of the Empire, Lady Brighid!"

There were soft gasps all around with the soldiers, not that Tora, Poppi, KOS-MOS and Herald were really paying them any mind.

"That incorrect!" Tora flapped his ear-wings around furiously at the soldiers, "KOS-MOS is friend Nia's Blade!" his argument fell on deaf ears with what happened next.

So excited to see her comrades again, Poppi held her hands up and did a little dance before spinning around and hugging KOS-MOS around the neck, to absolutely no physical response from the battle android, "KOS-MOS! Poppi is very excited to see you again!"

At most KOS-MOS' red eyes turned to the Artificial Blade hugging her, maybe a small smile picking at the edge of her lips but it was really hard to see, "It is a pleasure to see you again as well, Poppi," when Poppi pulled back, still smiling, the light type Blade gave her a good look up and down, "I see you have decided to remain in your QTpi mode. That is most efficient."

"Mmhmm!" Poppi did a cute pose, raising her hand in a salute and winking at the battle android, "Poppi is proud of this mode, she is at her best in it and can stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Herald and KOS-MOS in this form!" she leaned in, a serious look passing her face as she had both fists pumped, "Poppi has also been training and would like to test out full functions on either KOS-MOS or Herald!"

Another inspecting look from the battle android, "Affirmative. Your request is accepted, though it would be inconvenient at this time and would likely result in 73 percent damage to the surrounding area."

There may have been some squeaking from the Ardainian soldiers behind them.

"Meh-Meh-Meh!" Tora was frantically waving his ear-wings around, "Poppi cannot go around causing such reckless damage to Mor Ardain! Tora forbid it!"

"Aww, but Masterpon!" the young woman looking Artificial Blade crouched down to the large Nopon's level, wobbling this way and that amping up the cuteness to the Nth degree as she looked at her Driver with seemingly moist amber eyes and her knuckles up to her nose, "How else will Poppi truly test out new functions and battle capabilities if not against strong opponents like Herald and KOS-MOS?"

Tora had to resist that ultra-cute look, it was truly a herculean feat of willpower as he held up his ear-wing and adamantly shook his head, "No! Masterpon does not want Poppi to get hurt or damage friends!" he leaned in close to her, whispering behind his ear-wing, "Besides, that not why Tora and Poppi come to Mor Ardain, can test out new functions later in better location!" he gave her a confident smile, a wink, and thumbs up with his ear-wing. There may have been a sparkle involved.

"Oh Masterpon!" immediately Poppi hugged the large Nopon and nuzzled him, incapacitating Tora as he did not know whether he was going to die from strangling or overload.

The poor Ardainian soldiers had no idea what they were seeing. One of them stepped forward, near the large floating mecha-dragon woman and popped a salute as he was terrified and didn't know what else to do, "U-Uhm… H-Herald, uh, ma'am? W-we are supposed to be guarding the Palace, are these two intruders or not?"

The human portion of Herald turned to the small Ardainian man and seemed to blink at him a moment, not sure why he was talking to her. Most of the Ardainian soldiers didn't really address or bother with Morag and Nia's Blades other than Brighid, so it was strange being addressed with any kind of authority, "These two are comrades from Morag's journey to the World Tree, they are not intruders."

"Yes ma'am!" the man did a salute then about faced, ordering the rest of the guards to leave.

Herald just watched them leave somewhat confused. When she turned back to the others Poppi was smiling at her, to which the large mecha Blade returned, "It is good to see you again, Poppi."

Poppi activated her back boosters and flew up to Herald to give her a similar around-the-neck-hug as she had to KOS-MOS, "Poppi is glad to see Herald again as well!"

That smile on Herald's face spread as she raised her human arms, the mecha-dragon ones following, and hugged Poppi in return as gently as possible. Soon the two separated and Poppi returned to the ground, still smiling at the two Blades. Herald gave her partner a look then was the one to ask, "What has brought Tora and Poppi to Mor Ardain?"

"Meh!" Tora grumbled, swaying about annoyed as he had his nubby hands on his hips, "No one call or write! Haven't seen friends in over a year! They not want to bother telling Tora and Poppi the good news! Meh! Meh! Meh!"

The lovely Artificial Blade next to him leaned towards the other two Blades, talking behind her hand as if it were meant to be a secret, "We heard about Nia and Morag having littlepon from Ursula and Newt when they arrived in Torigoth. Masterpon has been grumpy and upset he was not informed sooner."

Dramatically, Tora pointed at the three mechanically themed women with his ear-wing and a sharp look in his beady brown eyes, "They not even tell Tora about other Blade Littlepons! How dare friends!"

Poppi responded to her Driver's reaction with a nervous smile while KOS-MOS and Herald just looked at him flatly. The two Blades shared a look before KOS-MOS responded, "Our Drivers have been preoccupied with this unusual circumstance, it is likely they had not even considered mentioning it to you as the results of the PROJECT NOAH program that was initiated in all Blades would have no immediate effect on the two of you."

There was a deep gasp from Tora as he looked stricken, "C-Critical Hit!"

"Masterpon!" Poppi went to his side, helping him recover before he fainted. She hid her eyes dramatically, simulating crying, "KOS-MOS is so cruel with her words, able to strike with such precision to Masterpon's weakness."

"I was merely stating the most likely scenario, apologies." With how flat the battle android said that it was hard to find any sincerity in it.

Tora huddled on the ground whimpering, cursing how out of the loop he was and how little his friends clearly thought of him, "Is curse of Nopon…"

"There, there, Masterpon," Poppi, ever dutiful to her Masterpon's moods, pat his fluffy head in support.

For a moment Herald looked at their comrades before turning to her partner, "We should depart."

"Indeed." KOS-MOS gave a very clipped nod, turning to leave only to stop as a fluffy ear-wing grabbed her boot. Red eyes blinked down at Tora who looked to be dramatically sniveling, "Please release my leg."

"Friend KOS-MOS would abandon Tora as well!" those beady brown eyes got even waterier. Next to him Poppi was kneeling in a similar position, hands clasped in front of her with large watery eyes and amped up cuteness.

It was hard to tell if the display had any effect on the battle android as she stared at them blankly, "It is not our intent to abandon you, we merely have our own mission to attend to."

"Mission?" Tora seemed to perk up, he and Poppi sharing a curious glance before he turned back to KOS-MOS, "What mission?"

Red eyes blinked, "Indol has been found, Morag requested one of her Blades be sent to investigate its remains. I requested to travel with Herald as I wish to see if any technology or information pertaining to Blade-Eaters, Flesh-Eaters and their creation remains." Her head tilted slightly as she added almost as an afterthought, "As you know, my Master is a Flesh-Eater, so any information on them would be pertinent to her well-being and potentially that of Ciara."

Beady brown eyes and robotic amber ones blinked as the Nopon Driver and Artificial Blade both asked as one, "Ciara?"

"That is the name of Morag and Nia's child," was Herald's quick monotonous response.

Both Tora and Poppi dramatically collapsed on the ground in despair.

"We not even know that much and Herald acts as if common knowledge," the Nopon Driver sniffled.

"We truly ignored and forgotten by friends." The female adult looking Artificial Blade seemingly shed tears in dismay.

The two mechanized Blades just stared at the two blankly for a minute… then turned around to head down to the docks.

"WAIT!" Tora called desperately to the two, "Friends can't just leave Tora and Poppi here!"

Herald and KOS-MOS looked back at them a second, shared a look and continued on.

"Friends are so cruel!" Poppi shot up, pointing at the two mechanized Blades, "Abandoning Poppi like this!"

Teal and red eyes blinked at the Artificial Blade, sharing another look.

"We should at least take them to see our Drivers…" Herald offered to her partner.

"Indeed," KOS-MOS seemed to nod minutely, "They would get lost otherwise. Our departure will have to wait." And with that the battle android turned, proceeding towards the elevators into the Palace.

Before she got very far, Poppi ran up and hugged KOS-MOS from behind, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Herald smiled at the scene even if the look on KOS-MOS' face didn't change as the three continued on.

"Wait!" the poor Nopon engineer crawled towards their retreating forms, "Even Poppi would abandon Masterpon!"

The battle android, mecha-dragon and Artificial Blade didn't seem to notice.

* * *

It didn't take long to get to the personal quarters of the Palace. Along the way KOS-MOS explained the situation as succinctly as she could. Tora and Poppi listened intently, they were probably the only ones able to follow KOS-MOS fully when she used all the details she desired, being as accurate to the situation as possible.

"Hrmm…" Tora was rubbing his chin with the finger of one of his ear-wings, "It certainly sound like exciting predicament. To think the Architect would leave such a program available yet inactive."

"Tora is familiar with this type of terminology?" funnily enough, despite how long Herald had been following KOS-MOS, and listening to her ramble about these things, she still had a hard time fully processing what she meant when she stated things like 'programs' and 'system processes'.

"Oh yes!" excitedly the large Nopon jumped up and down, doing a little twirl as he flapped his wings, "These type of programs sound similar to Poppi's UI! Grampypon designed most of the concept, Daddapon enhanced it, and Tora both learned on it and completed it! Creating the personality and functionality of the Poppi we all know today!" he waved his ear-wings and looked to be presenting Poppi.

The adult-looking Artifical Blade had her arms up, hands half covering her face, as she turned this way and that, acting almost like she was blushing, "Masterpon talk about such intimate details of Poppi…"

"Masterpon is proud of Poppi!" Tora gave a wide, wicked grin, "Perfect program! Perfect personality system! Perfect interface-MEHMEHMEH!"

Too embarrassed for some reason, Poppi dramatically hide her face and pushed her Driver over, his flapping and 'Meh's accompanying him as he hit the ground.

The two mechanized Blades just watched them blankly.

"While Poppi's program is remarkable compared to other such basic programs developed from Alrest," KOS-MOS looked the two over, "I doubt even someone of Tora's expertise would be able to understand the advanced programming language of the Architect."

"Tora accept KOS-MOS' challenge!" the large Nopon bounced back up as if nothing happened, ear-wings flapping around agitated, "Bring code! Tora will understand! Tora might even be help!" he stood up proud, rubbing one of his nubby hands under his nose, "After all, Tora understand elegance in code someone like KOS-MOS might not!"

The battle android didn't seem to be affected by his taunts, merely opening a compartment in her hip and pulling out a clear slate. Pressing a few bits on it and strings of data code appeared, once satisfied she turned the device over and presented it to Tora.

"Meh?" reaching for the tablet, Tora pulled it closer, intently reading the lines of code, "Meh-meh." he stared at it further, flipping the thing around, "MEH-MEH-MEH!" after spinning it about for a bit Tora seemed to make himself dizzy and collapsed, ear-wing holding the tablet up, "Tora… concede… meh…"

KOS-MOS took the tablet back while leaving him to catch himself and make sense of the world again, "It is a very complex language. I had Adenine help translate some of it, while the rest I had to figure out through trial and error." Pressing a few buttons she turned off the ancient tablet and put it back into the compartment in her leg. "I admit that some of it is still beyond my capabilities, but some of it comes intrinsically. Perhaps, given time, Tora could learn to understand some of the Architect's language as well."

"Tora would like the opportunity to try," he held up his ear-wing and the battle android helped him to his stubby little feet.

Poppi was smiling at this development, happy for her Masterpon.

They continued down the halls, Tora asking KOS-MOS more questions about the Architect code and the functions she was able to unlock and alter. It was interesting for both Poppi and Herald to watch the two just talk in such a manner, as if in their own little world only they understood.

Down the hall a door banged open and before any of them realized it, a large white tiger shot out of the room and came charging after them.

"Pardon us! Out of the way!" at least Dromarch was polite enough to warn them.

Everyone plastered themselves against the walls as the large white tiger shot down the hall. It was only a second but they caught something yellow on his back. In a second, they were gone.

"Nia!" another shout down the hall, and all their eyes turned back, spotting Morag standing halfway out of the door with a look of fury… only to deflate with a long sigh, spotting her Blade and Nia's, "Herald, KOS-MOS? I thought you left?"

"We did, Morag," Herald looked down, moving as much of her large form over as possible in the hall to show what they found.

Tora and Poppi leaned around the large Blade, the Artificial Blade holding her Masterpon and both blinking at the Imperial Inquisitor. Tora waved with a nervous grin, "Ah-ha! Friend Morag! I-is good to see you!"

The look on the woman's face was surprised but it softened, something Poppi and Tora weren't really used to seeing on the hardened military woman, "Tora, Poppi," another sigh as she seemed to lean on the door, "Well, you might as well come in."

* * *

Tora and Poppi entered the room unhindered, Morag stood at the door having a short exchange with her Blade and KOS-MOS before the two mechanical Blades left again, presumably to catch their transport.

The Ardainian woman nodded them off before turning back into her quarters with a minute frown on her face. She looked up at the scene in front of her, "Sorry you two, I have some business I must return to, you're free to stay here for a little while, it should not take long." She moved between the Nopon and Artificial Blade, stepping over to her primary Blade who was seated on the bed, holding something wrapped up in a small blanket, "Brighid, do you mind watching her for a bit?"

The blue flame Blade just gave her obviously tired Driver a light smile, "Of course not, Lady Morag."

The Imperial Inquisitor gave a light smile, crouching down in front of her Blade, reaching for the blanket, pushing the top back and pet Ciara's soft head. Her ears were starting to unfold now, not completely sticking up but enough to be noticeable, as she squirmed under her mother's touch. The Ardainian woman looked at her softly, kissing her baby's head, then stood up and went into her study, closing the door.

Tora and Poppi awkwardly stood near the center of the room. They gave each other a look before turning towards Brighid, seeing the baby in her arms.

The Nopon flapped his ear-wings about, "Tora think we came at wrong time?"

"Poppi think so too, Masterpon." Artificial amber eyes glanced from the blue flame Blade to the baby in her arms.

Brighid tried to give the two a look that was encouraging, "A marital dispute," a smirk picked up on the blue flame Blade's lips, "Ignore it, please, come closer. It is good to see you two again, and I'm sure there's someone here you'd like to meet." She propped up her arm, indicating the little Gormotti girl snuggled up there being a bit fussy.

Again the two oddballs shared a look before coming over to the elegant fire type Blade. Poppi leaned over while Tora stood on his stubby toes to get a better look.

Tora's ear-wings flapped as he chuckled, "Littlepon! Just like Nia!" he reached out to poke one of her little black ears, her eyes opening showing still-blue-eyes staring at him.

"Littlepon look like Morag to Poppi," Poppi reached over, poking the baby's chest. Ciara seemed to reflexively shake her arms at that.

"Between black hair and Littlepon's scowl, Poppi might be right." When Tora tried to touch her, Ciara's eyes seemed to water and she cried, causing the Nopon and Artificial Blade to jump back with a shock.

Despite the baby crying in her arms, Brighid just seemed to lightly chuckle, "Now, now, no need to be like that," she held Ciara up on her shoulder and patted her back soothingly. After a minute or so the baby seemed to calm down, her cries going down to a small whimper, the little ears on her head flicking back.

Tora was poking his ear-wing fingers together, "Tora sorry."

"It's not you," Brighid smiled at them, "She's just at an age where she's crying for any little thing. It's nothing personal Tora." The blue flame Blade pat the baby's back again, "When she gets really fussy she seems to only like her mother's touch."

"But Brighid soothes Littlepon just fine?" Poppi tilted her head.

The blue flame Blade just gave the Artificial Blade a light shrug, "I am Lady Morag's primary Blade, I can only reason she can smell her mother on me." She ended with a chuckle.

The odd pair looked at the baby and the Blade, Tora putting his nubby hands on his hips, "Has Littlepon been missing Mamapon?"

A dark blue brow rose, "You could say that." Brighid turned enough to look over her shoulder at the closed study door, "Lady Morag has been trying to get back to her duties as the Imperial Inquisitor, which leaves less time for Ciara and Nia both."

There was a funny chuckle from the large Nopon as he wiped his nose, almost smug, "Ah, Tora can see where problem stem from." He stepped closer and tried patting the baby's head again, she got a bit grumpy but he pulled back before she started crying again, "Don't worry Littlepon, Unclepon Tora will go get Daddapon!" there was a big fanged grin on his face as the baby Gormotti turned to him, staring with her still-blue-eyes.

Poppi blinked at her Driver, "Masterpon will go find Nia?"

The large Nopon turned back with a fanged grin and giving a thumbs up with one of his ear-wings, "Yep! Tora has idea that can help!" he waddled over to the door, "Poppi! Help Birghid with Littlepon!"

"Roger, roger!" the Artificial Blade gave a funny salute as Tora went out. As soon as he was gone she dropped her arm and for a moment seemed to pause before turning back to the blue flame Blade and the baby. Poppi smiled brightly, coming over to adore the little girl, "Perhaps Masterpon right," Poppi waved her hand near the baby and Ciara tried grabbing her hand.

Brighid found watching the Artificial Blade interesting, Poppi's reactions surprisingly gentle and concise. A small smile rose on her lips, "And why is that, Poppi?"

The womanly Artificial Blade crouched down next to the two, a light smile on her face, "Littlepon just like Nia, just missing Mamapon."

* * *

While this was all going on, inside the study Morag had her face down on her desk.

Listening to Ciara cry was nerve-wracking. Several months in and she still wanted to just jump up and go to her. She'd gotten some books on child-rearing and read through them, some said to just let her cry, others said to sooth her, most of it was complete nonsense that didn't help her at all!

She wanted to go back to being the Imperial Inquisitor. That was her job, her life for so long, what she was comfortable doing. This was probably the longest she'd gone in her adult life not traveling off to another country for one reason or another; to inspect a crime, show force for the Empire, track down some criminal…

Being a mother was more taxing than she ever thought but not in a bad way. It was exhausting, she was on alert, and like battle had to trust her instincts when dealing with little Ciara and determining if she was hungry, or needed a change, or was just upset. That cry had been her being upset and resisting the urge to jump up to sooth her was far more difficult than she'd ever thought possible.

But Morag had wanted to go back to being useful for her brother and the Empire…

"Father, you look sad," was the somewhat smug voice from the corner of her study. Mythra was sitting in a side chair, casually flipping through a book.

There was a groan from the Imperial Inquisitor, she didn't even raise her head, just holding the back of it with her elbows on the desk.

Light colored eyes glanced over, a tiny sympathetic smile appearing on the light type Aegis' face, "You want me to leave? I can go help out if you're too busy?" there was definitely a bit of snark there.

"No," a deep sigh, "Just… give me a minute."

The light type Aegis just chuckled, setting down the book and moving to lean on the edge of Morag's desk, looking down at the mortal woman with something between pity and sympathy. Mythra crossed her arms and tilted her head, "I think you need a break."

"I don't need a break," Morag still hadn't raised her head from her desk.

"You look exhausted," Mythra shook her head, smirk rising, "Thought sending all of you and Nia's Blades off to do your job was supposed to make things easier?"

"It just means I have to delegate more," the Imperial Inquisitor moved to put her head on her hands, "If it was Brighid out there, I could trust her not to…"

"Tarnish the reputation of Mor Ardain?" the Aegis was definitely being smug.

Another groan from the mortal woman, "That's one way to put it," with a sigh she finally sat up, looking her guest in the eye, "But I needed her here and the others were all too willing to go…"

A cheeky smirk played on Mythra's lips as she pushed up and sat on the desk facing the woman, "Yea, well, adventure and all that," she waved her hand, "That's why Rex and Pyra ran off to join Adenine's salvager trip…"

There was a sharp look from the Imperial Inquisitor, "Didn't you send them off on that trip because you wanted some time alone?"

"Besides the point," Mythra just waved her hands, ignoring the question, "And weren't we talking about your problems?" a light smirk rose on her face when the mortal woman just seemed to huff. Mythra gave an unhindered chuckle, "Ciara seems really picky, only really liking her mom and grandmother when she's upset."

Hard light brown eyes glared at the light type Aegis, before forcing herself to look away at some papers on her desk, really just anything to distract her, "And that's a problem…"

Again that sympathetic look rose on Mythra's face, "Hey, you guys are working with what you got. No one can assume how a baby's going to react to things, and whew… you guys get to have the whole time frame since she's a mortal like you," Mythra just shook her head, sighing hard, "I couldn't do it. Ethos, Pathos and Logos all seem to be growing faster than a normal kid, not as much as Pyrrha from what KOS-MOS said, but man, I don't know how you guys have put up with her for four months and she's not already up and moving around."

Light brown eyes just flatly glared at the Aegis, "Yes well…" with a bit of a grumble, Morag shuffled through the papers. She was just doing her work, "Mortals are just so…" with a growl she put the papers down and leaned back into the chair, closing her eyes. She just needed to stop herself right there…

Mythra reached out and put her hand on the woman's shoulder in comfort, smiling when Morag finally looked at her, "Stop comparing yourself to us Blades, we got our problems too~"

The Imperial Inquisitor just stared flatly, "Like what?"

At that the smile on Mythra's face increased significantly, "Hey, at least you don't have to wake up to an earthquake or a tsunami threating your house." At the shocked look on the mortal woman's face, Mythra just laughed, wiping away tears, "Yea… Ethos and Logos have started taking in ether so… when they get upset or in a fight with each other… well, they kind of… start using Arts against each other…"

"They're only six months old at most?!" now Morag was awake and staring at the Aegis shocked.

Mythra was nervously scratching behind her head and chuckling, "Yea, but by mortal standards they're probably comparable to one and two years old. KOS-MOS suggested they might grow more rapidly in the early stages as it wasn't beneficial for a Blade but taper off down the line so their bodies could get used to ether functioning." She waved her hand, "I dunno, but I just know they're walking around and somehow Ethos can pick up her hammer even though its twice her size and Logos can throw his bitball even though he still sucks on a pacifier." She shrugged with a deep sigh, "I think because they're Blades it's just natural for them to instinctively know how to use their weapons and _WANT_ to try them out." Mythra cracked open one eye and looked at the woman, "By the way, thanks for sending Godfrey, at least he can help Ethos out with her Arts and how to do them properly…" there was a grumble and Mythra continued more under her breath, "Especially since Vess is teaching Logos…"

Morag was just staring at the Aegis.

"What?" light eyes blinked.

A funny little smile picked up at the edge of Morag's lips, "I'm suddenly very happy for sleepless nights and a fussy baby…"

Mythra just smirked, "See, told ya." She crossed her arms again, looking at the woman questioningly, "So you going to tell me what all that was about?" the light type Aegis nodded her chin back towards the door. She had remained in here, originally with Brighid, as the two Blades had just wanted to stay out of the family affair, but…

That absolutely defeated sigh escaped Morag again, "Just Nia…" she seemed to sink into the chair more, putting a hand over her face, "Between doing my job and taking care of Ciara, there's just… so little time for her…"

"So she left?" a blonde brow rose.

"I think I chased her out," Morag sunk further into her chair.

"Hey, c'mon," Mythra shook the mortal woman's shoulder, "Nia's made a lot of dumb decisions in her life, but you guys together aren't one," a brighter smile came to the light type Aegis' face, "Especially that adorable little girl in there."

"Heh," there was a mirthless laugh as Morag dropped her hand, "Ciara was less a choice and more an impossibility come true thanks to a rogue Blade and a bunch of technobabble even I don't fully understand."

Mythra grinned wide, "Hey, I'm fine with it, and I had to deal with it twice," she gave an encouraging wink.

Morag just stared at the light type Aegis flatly, arms crossed under her still sensitive and swollen breasts, "Nine months… and breast feeding," light brown eyes narrowed, "Which I will likely be doing for at least another year."

An oddly terrified look came over Mythra's face as she waved her hands up defensively, "Okay, okay, you win!" she pouted at the oddly victorious smirk on the Imperial Inquisitor's face, "I don't think that's something you want to be smug about."

"It's really not," a deep sigh from the mortal woman as the grin dropped and her shoulders sagged, "I'm okay with this situation, it's just very…"

"Stressful?" light eyes side glanced at the woman.

A small smirk picked up on the edge of Morag's lips as she closed her eyes, "That's one way to put it."

The light type Aegis stood up, hand on her hip, "And how would you put it?"

"Comfortably useful?" the Special Inquisitor shrugged, "I don't know, with everything I've put up with in my life I should be able to handle this kind of stress better. It's just all very tiring…"

Mythra gave a light smirk, leaning over to pat the woman's shoulder, "Well, you rest up, I'm going to see how little _you_ is doing," the light type Blade gave a cheeky grin when the woman opened one eye to glare at her.

"Tora and Poppi should be out there as well," Morag offered, giving an exhausted sigh.

Mythra paused at the door, "Wait, really?" she turned back to Morag who only nodded, "Why're they here?"

The exhausted Imperial Inquisitor just shrugged, "I have no idea…"

"Man…" The light type Aegis pondered a moment, "I haven't seen them in… damn, when we built the house?" she blinked before giving a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of her head, "Father, time passes quickly."

Morag cracked open one eye, "I think they came to see Ciara, undoubtedly Newt or Ursula told them about her," lazily, by the Ardainian woman's standards, she waved her hand at Mythra, "I thought you were leaving."

Light eyes gave her a mild glare even if Mythra had a smug smirk on her face, "Already trying to get rid of me, huh?" she put her hand on her hip, turning towards the door, "I see how it is~"

"Shoo," another wave from the tired woman, "Before I call back Herald and have her escort you out." Morag couldn't help the smirk that rose to her lips at the taunt. Of the two Aegises they traveled with, Mythra was the more competitive one, enjoying expressing how much stronger she was than all other Blades. So it was extremely enjoyable for Morag, Nia and Tora when their strongest Blades, Herald and KOS-MOS, with Poppi's most advanced form 'QTpi Mode' managed to utterly demolish monsters the light type Aegis had trouble with. Pyra was more than willing to admit the three were stronger than her in a combat sense, Mythra was the one who was still sore about it though.

To prove the point, Mythra turned around, hands on her hips and just glared meanly at the mortal woman, "I'll get you back for that."

Morag just waved her hand, smirking at the idle threat as the light type Aegis left.

As soon as the door closed Morag just collapsed in the chair, bringing her hands forward, covering her face and wanting to scream.

She needed to get back to work. There were plans and paperwork strewn all across her desk that needed her approval, reports from her and Nia's Blades, itineraries for her brother and his fiancé…

Morag just set her head down, taking a nap.

* * *

Nia was sitting out on one of the suspended bridges in Alba Cavanich. She was sitting under the railing, legs dangling in the air and just staring off into the surf down below. The original port for Mor Ardain down below had become a beach, as the old Titan had sunk into the ocean up to its chest and died, its body turning green as it became a part of the land of Elysium like the others in the time since the World Tree fell. It was still strange to her, to remember that only six years ago that land down there was rusty red dirt and the place was boiling hot drifting about the cloud sea. Now it was green and a beach.

She had asked Dromarch to leave her alone once they'd made it to the main city of Mor Ardain. He said he would go check up on Vale who'd decided to stick around the city when all their Blades decided to run off on Morag's errands.

There was a deep sigh from the Gormotti Driver, clinching her hands and ears tilting back.

"Tora find it funny friend Nia would come to spot like this," there was a light chuckle as squeaky little nubby footsteps came up behind the Gormotti woman, "Especially with how much Nia complained about heights six years ago during journey to save Alrest."

Cream colored grey Gormotti ears shot up, and Nia turned towards the large Nopon with wide eyes, "T-Tora?!" the funny Nopon engineer gave a cheeky grin, rubbing his nose with one of his ear-wings. The familiar gesture brought a smile to the Gormotti Driver's face and she couldn't help but return his grin, "Heh, yea, suppose yer right, ey?" she gave a small shrug as he sat down next to her, unconsciously gripping her knees as she looked down at the beach below, "Just… ya know, can't think anyone'd look for me in a place like this, ey?"

Tora kicked his nubby little Nopon legs over the edge of the metal like Nia, "Is friend Nia looking to not be found? Not doing very good job, Tora think."

The Gormotti woman scoffed, wiping her eyes, "Yea, guess you could say that," a smirk was sent his way, "You found me, after all…"

It was always hard to tell when a Nopon gave a serious look, the only signs were that they were looking at you directly and not smiling, like how Tora was looking at his friend right now, "Tora and Poppi saw friend Nia run away…" he turned to look down at the beach, drumming his ear-wings, "Friend want talk about it?"

Gold eyes just stared down, leaning her head on the railing, "I think I messed up Tora…"

"Meh-meh?" those ear-wings shot up, Tora looking at her surprised, "Why friend say that?! Surely not regretting becoming Daddapon!"

"What?! No!" angry gold eyes shot to Tora in a second, and it was only after glaring at him that she noticed his odd little smirk. With a growl she turned forward, ears back and annoyed, "No… no, I like Ciara… and while this was all a surprise I'm not-I would never-argh!" she hit her fist on the metal grating.

A funny smirk played on Tora's fuzzy lips as he wiggled his stubby legs, "It not quite what Friend expects, yes?" he chuckled when she turned towards him with a funny look, "Being Daddapon is big responsibility! So much to do! So much to try!" there was a depreciative laugh as the large Nopon scratched the back of his head with one of his ear-wings, "So much to mess up…"

"Tora?" cream colored grey brows quirked, eyeing her friend. What he was saying… it was almost like…

Tora gave a funny smile, looking at Nia sincerely before pulling something out of the front pocket of his overalls, a piece of thick looking paper and handing it to her.

It was a picture.

It was a picture of Tora and Poppi holding a little pink fluffy ball with stripes that could only be a young Nopon.

Nia's eyes went wide, "Wha-when-how-?!" gold eyes blinked shocked looking towards her friend.

Tora bounced a bit, an oddly tempered excitement about him as he took back the picture, "That Kodora, Tora's littlepon."

Gold eyes just went wide.

The large Nopon didn't seem to notice, smiling happily as he put the picture away, "Friends don't write, don't call! Tora had so much happen past three years and friends don't even know!"

Glaring, Nia snapped at him, "Hey! You could'a called us or wrote us!" clawed hands waved at the large Nopon, "When did this happen?! Why you not said anything to all'a us?!"

The Nopon engineer tapped his chin, "Hmm, slipped Tora's mind," he chuckled at the growl the Gormotti woman sent his way. Tora waved his nubby hands and ear-wings trying to placate Nia, "Friend calm down and Tora can tell!"

With a growling pout, Nia crossed her arms and nodded, "Fine," she waved her hand closest to Tora, "Well, get on with it!"

Another funny chuckle from Tora, "It simple really. Daddapon Tatazo wanted Tora to get married and have Littlepon so he could be Grampypon!" a sigh, "But Tora not interested, he had Poppi after all…" a shrug, "But Daddapon insist, so Tora go out with nice lady Nopon. Tora fall for her but still worried about Poppi, but Poppi told Tora this was normal. Was part of Driver/Blade life! Was what was supposed to do!"

Nia gave him a sympathetic look, "I take it that didn't quite work out like that, ey?"

With a dramatic sigh Tora deflated, "No," he shook his head, "Most Nopon see having littlepon like business exchange. Romance is more human concept. Tora mostly grew up in Torigoth, spent all his time among humans, Gormotti and Ardainians, so Tora like that idea." Beady brown eyes turned to his friend, "Tora love Poppi like friend Nia love Morag, so arrangement quite difficult."

There was really nothing to add, so Nia just sighed, her ears going back, "Sorry to hear that Tora…"

He seemed to shrug, "It not last long. Tora's wife ran off quickly to Nopopolis." A long sigh, "To be honest, Tora was relieved. She not like Poppi much."

An unwitting snort released from Nia, shaking her head, "Only you could look on the bright side of being dumped and have your wife run off to some new Nopon city."

Another funny grin from the Nopon engineer as he wiggled his nubby limbs, "Not all bad, year later basket left on doorstep with littlepon and letter saying our arrangement was annulled. She found new Nopon with more money so married him and gave Tora littlepon as compensation."

"Nopon can be frightening with how casual you are with things like that…" a nervous look passed over Nia's face before asking the obvious question, "So how you know this littlepon is _your_ littlepon and she didn't just drop someone else's kid off on you?"

The large Nopon seemed to puff up, eyes squinting and he was obviously offended, "KODORA IS TORA'S LITTLEPON!"

Nia squeaked, leaning back, surprised by that shout, "Ack! Aye, yea! Fine! Fine! I get it!"

Tora flapped his ear-wings angrily, "Only Tora's littlepon would be so nice! So fluffy! So smart and interested in Tora's work!"

Gold eyes blinked, the Gormotti woman inching back from the furious Nopon, holding up her hands as a defense, "Ey! Alright! Alright! I said I got it!"

Finally Tora seemed to calm down enough to huff and stop flapping his wings. He breathed in dramatically and breathed out, all of his anger from a moment ago disappearing as he pulled out the picture again, making him smile, "Littlepon just like Tora as littlepon, even Daddapon say so." He held up the picture again, the finger-thing on his ear-wing pointing at the little pink fluffball, "See, littlepon even has Tora's stripes!" his smile was bright and he seemed oddly proud of that fact.

A defeated smile passed over Nia's face. She honestly had no idea how Nopon genetics worked or how their relationships were. From Tora's one example they seemed strangely casual, but maybe that was normal for them? Looking at the picture again, Nia could see that no matter what, both Tora and Poppi were smiling in it, along with Kodora.

They looked so happy.

"You're right Tora," she ignored the sniffle, wiping her eyes and turned back to the beach, "Sorry I said anything…"

Tora leaned over, spotting the sudden sad look that passed his friend's face. He put the picture away, wiggling his little stubby legs as he turned to watch the beach below as well, "Is not all good as picture show."

Gold eyes popped up surprised. It was almost like he'd read her mind…

The large Nopon leaned this way and that, "Littlepon can be very difficult at times. At first would not stop crying, missing Mamapon, see?" he looked at her poignantly, "But Mamapon gone, not want anything to do with Daddapon or Littlepon anymore…"

"Tora…" Nia couldn't help but have sympathy for him. He was their friend, he was integral to their journey… and none of them knew… she hadn't known this was going on in his life.

He gave his friend a funny smile, "It get easier Nia! Just do what Tora do! What Tora's Daddapon do!"

A cream colored grey brow rose, "What you mean by that, Tora?"

A fanged grin spread on the large Nopon's fuzzy face, "Tora saw Morag and Nia's littlepon, Ciara seem like Kodora and missing Mamapon." He waved his ear-wing, "But friend Morag is still around, just very busy. That make friend Nia very lonely, just like littlepon, correct?"

Red crept up Nia's face. She hadn't wanted to admit that. Not to him, not to her Blades, and especially not to Morag.

Nervously turning away, Nia twiddled her thumbs, trying to calm down, "H-how could you tell?"

"Same with littlepon," he scooted closer to his friend, putting his ear-wing on her shoulder as a comfort, "Tora was overwhelmed in beginning. All alone, not wanting to take help or advice, wanting to raise littlepon all on own, just like Daddapon and Grampypon, but…"

"But?" one of those cream colored grey brows quirked, her ear closest to him popping up.

"But Poppi was having none of that, same with Daddapon and Lila," Tora rubbed the back of his head, remembering a certain event where Poppi didn't quite regulate her strength properly… he quickly flapped his ear-wings, trying to dispel the thought, "but Tora listen! Take advice and get help where needed!"

Gold eyes flatly stared at the Nopon, "That didn't really answer my question, Tora…"

"Is getting to that!" he waved his ear-wings again, "Tora had become so obsessed with doing things right… Tora was doing everything WRONG! Poppi got upset with Tora! Tora wasn't paying her any attention because Tora so focused on littlepon! But even then littlepon was upset too! So what was Tora to do!" the longer he went the more frantic he got and Nia couldn't help the few snorts that escaped her. It made the large Nopon laugh, "So, Tora finally sat down and ask Daddapon what Tora should do? Friend know what he said?"

"No, what?" Nia raised a brow, looking at him funny.

He gave a fanged grin, "Daddapon told Tora what Grampypon told him," he raised one of his ear-wings and poked Nia's nose, "Don't overthink it!"

Gold eyes blinked, surprised, then annoyed, then angry, shouting, "That it?!"

"Mehmehmeh!" Tora bounced back, rolling a second then got up flapping his wings, "What that for!?"

With a growl, Nia rolled her neck and looked back at the beach, "The hell kind of advice is that?! How's that supposed to help!"

Slowly Tora sat back in his spot, wiggling his nubby appendages, "Not really supposed to," he smiled at the angry look his Gormotti friend sent his way, "Just supposed to help friend stop fretting and take stock of situation."

Nia's ears twitched as she turned to look at him.

Tora took her questioning look as a good sign, "Friend is upset, littlepon is upset," he wiggled his little legs, "Both are upset about same thing, correct?" beady brown eyes turned to his friend, "So find solution to both problems."

A vulnerable look passed over Nia's face before she looked away from him, pouting, "But Ciara… when she's upset she only wants her Ma," unconsciously her hands tightened on her knees, "an' Morag's busy, trying to get back to doing her job. It…" she bit her lip, a bout of sadness passing her face, "It's really important to her…"

"Yes," Tora leaned in close, "And friend is trying to be good Daddapon? Trying to handle everything alone even if friend messes up more often than not?"

"Watch it," the Gormotti woman growled.

"But true, yes?" he looked at her seriously and Nia couldn't help but slowly nod. "So, take Tora's advice. Don't overthink it. Friend Nia should find way to spend time with littlepon on Nia's terms, not trying to make up for lack of Morag, hmm?"

Gold eyes blinked, "That's… surprisingly poignant," surprised she turned to him slowly, "So, what you're saying I should…?"

Tora just smiled at her, "Littlepon is telling Daddapon she sad Mamapon is not around. Daddapon cannot replace Mamapon for littlepon, but it is good thing Daddapon is one littlepon is comfortable complaining to!"

At the funny scenario, Nia couldn't help but snicker, "So wait, you're saying I should be 'happy' she cries to me?"

"Of course!" he held up his ear-wings and his nubby little hands all pumped, "Means littlepon can confide in Daddapon! Can be honest with Daddapon! Is best thing for both!"

Nia started laughing uncontrollably at Tora's enthusiasm… and crying at the simplicity in the logic and how it made her not feel as bad. She wiped away her tears, trying to only be proud of the advice, "So…" a sniffle mixed with a chuckle, "So… you're saying… I should what? Just let her cry? Console her?" she looked at her friend, truly lost, "She's just a baby, s'not like she can understand what I mean or say…" She was worried her daughter didn't like her, wouldn't like her, and here Tora was telling her it was the exact opposite…

She really wanted to believe him.

Tora gave a confident smile, "When Kodora cries about Mamapon missing, Tora take her into his lap. Let her sit there and cry while he works on parts for Poppi. After a while, littlepon stop crying. Kodora get curious about what Daddapon doing, so watches Tora work." He closed his eyes with such a content smile, "It make Tora feel good, sharing something important to Tora with littlepon. Now Kodora is getting older she very interested in what Daddapon does! Kodora will be great engineer like Tora!"

Something hesitantly hopeful passed Nia's face, "So… so, you're saying I should… just distract her? Let her cry but keep her close? Doing something I normally do and just let her get curious about it?"

Tora bounced a bit happily, "Friend should share something friend loves with littlepon. Friends Nia and Morag are lucky to have each other to raise littlepon." He rubbed under his nose with his ear-wing, "But friends still need to learn how to share work properly! Nia have time with littlepon doing something Nia loves, then Morag have time with littlepon doing her work! Then have Dromarch or Brighid share something with littlepon while Nia and Morag share time together!" he winked at that last part, clearly meaning something far more adult than this conversation intended.

Nia pouted at the pervy little Nopon, "Fine, yea, I think I get ya," she crossed her arms and looked annoyed, but cracked an eye open and look at him sincerely. "Thanks Tora."

He bounced with a smile, "Any time friend!" getting up he pat her back, "Now, Tora want to get back and see littlepon again! Ciara adorable, not like Nia at all! Will leave friend alone so can think of something to share with littlepon!"

Nia growled at his potshot but waved him away as he started to leave. He didn't get very far before she called out to him, honestly if a bit grudgingly, "Hey Tora," she could hear him stop, "You're a good Da, yea. When stuff settles, Morag and I ought'a stop by, bring Ciara an' she and Kodora could play."

Tora just smiled, "Tora would like that very much!" then went off, his job done.

* * *

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"

Morag woke with a jolt as there was someone shouting on the otherside of her study door.

"Mythra calm down…" that sounded like Brighid.

Quickly opening one of her drawers Morag pulled out a mirror to check her face, it wouldn't have been the first time she woke up and ink got on her face because she fell asleep on her papers… only there was nothing?

Dazed and a bit confused, idly wiping her mouth as she sat up and putting the mirror away, Morag looked around her study. Her papers were moved off to the side of her desk, there was a blanket falling off her shoulders… her hat was safely on the edge of her desk…

Clearly someone had come in while she was asleep, taking care of her when she didn't even notice.

Rubbing her head, Morag stood up. She needed to go, this wasn't… a quick glance to a clock on the wall said she hadn't been out that long.

- _Where's Ciara?_ \- she hadn't heard her cry, only Mythra and Brighid talking outside…

Taking her hat off the edge of her desk she moved towards the door.

"So that where new core crystals and littlepons come from?" wait-was that Poppi's voice?

"Tora don't think this appropriate for Poppi!" clearly the large Nopon was furious and if what was said previously, it was probably a good thing Morag was half-awake and didn't pay attention.

"Oh shut up Tora!" Mythra again, "You of all people don't have a right to say that!"

"Especially after looking through _your_ closet," Brighid again, Morag could almost hear the judging stare.

"Meh-Meh-Meh!" there was really no response for the large Nopon… he had designed Poppi after all, that spoke volumes about his 'thoughts' on the subject.

"It alright Masterpon, Poppi understand now." It was hard to tell how the Artificial Blade was really responding to all this, "Poppi is Artificial Blade, does not have master code from Architect, so Poppi can't make littlepons."

While true, the way she said it, even if it was that normal modulated voice, hurt something inside Morag. She was lucky to have Ciara, a veritable miracle, along with the other new core crystals thanks to KOS-MOS' shenanigans.

"That not true!" Tora was yelling, "Poppi has Kodora! Poppi has Tora! And some day Tora and Kodora help Poppi make littlepon!"

"Uh, Tora, I don't think that's what she meant-!" Mythra tried to cut in.

"And perhaps even get KOS-MOS to help with design! Perhaps incorporate Architect code so Poppi's littlepon can have littlepons of her own!" clearly Tora was going off on the engineering deep end.

"Masterpon make Poppi so happy!" despite whatever logic in the world, apparently Tora's crazy speech was the right thing to say.

Morag cracked open the door and saw the two hugging, or really Poppi holding Tora enthusiastically while the large Nopon was either getting dizzy or so excited he had an aneurism. Either way it was an oddly cute scene.

With the sound of the study door closing, Brighid saw her Driver exit looking… tired but happy, "Lady Morag?"

"Where…" the Ardainian woman's voice hitched, "Where's Nia and Ciara?"

"Hm?" Poppi stopped spinning with Tora and they both blinked at the woman before the Artificial Blade set her Driver down. Tora waddled over to Morag, grabbing her hand with his ear-wing and smiling up to his friend, "Daddapon took littlepon for walk, needed some air, very stuffy in here." He waved his ear-wing as if it was nothing, "Friend Morag look like she need some air too."

"Tora," it was all Morag could say. She always forgot how perceptive Tora could be, Nopon cuteness was very deceiving.

He just gave her a fanged grin, winking up at her before turning to his companion, "Poppi!"

"Roger, roger, Masterpon!" Poppi closed her eyes, standing still as she seemed to be concentrating. Then her eyes popped open and they showed a strange green light, "Friend Nia and littlepon Ciara are at the beach, Dromarch and Vale are watching them nearby."

"Poppi? How do you-?" that was as far as Morag could get before Tora started pushing her towards the door, "Hey! Tora!"

"Meh-Meh!" The Nopon Engineer pushed the taller woman with surprising strength, "Questions later! Morag need air now!"

Mythra was snickering behind her hand as she sat on the bed, "Yea, we're having an adult conversation here! Don't need you bringing it down!" to add insult, she waved her hand dismissively, shooing the Ardainian woman out of her own room.

Morag managed a glare over her shoulder at the door, "Brighid?!"

The blue flame Blade just waved her hand as well, "Someone needs to stay here just in case and take care of our guests."

"Go, go, go!" Tora nearly threw the Imperial Inquisitor out, slamming the door in her face as he waddled proudly back to the group with his nubby hands on his hips.

Brighid chuckled demurely behind her hand at his antics, while Mythra had crossed her arms, smirking but also shaking her head.

"Friend Morag is going to be angry with Masterpon when they return," Poppi leaned over, knocking her knuckles on the large Nopon's head.

"Meh-Meh!" Tora grunted, waving her off, "Tora is great hero! They thank him later."

The blue flame Blade and light type Aegis just shared a look.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Mythra couldn't help but smirk, getting comfortable.

"Shall we go watch?" Brighid offered lightly. It _was_ her job to take care of her Driver's guests which meant keeping everyone entertained.

"Oh hell yea!" with a fist pumped, Mythra stood up with a bright grin, "I GOT to see this drama!"

"Tora know great spot!" beady brown eyes winked at the two female Blades, "Can watch without interrupting."

"Well what the hell are we doing still here!" now both fists pumped, Mythra confidently walked towards the door.

"Mythra seems oddly excited," Poppi leaned over, talking behind her hand to the blue flame Blade sitting on the bed.

Brighid could only sigh, "She needs more excitement in her life." She still got up, following the others. Just because she chided Mythra's excitement didn't mean she didn't want to see this as well.

Poppi just giggled to herself, picking up her Driver, "Shall we, Masterpon?"

"Onwards Poppi!" Tora pointed out the door, excited about this as well. He was just concerned about his friends, that was all.

* * *

"And this one, it's a Volf," Nia called out over the sounds of the light surf. The Gormotti Blade waved her flowing arm, moving her fingers in intricate patterns laced with ether.

In front of them a bubble of sea water bubbled up, forming a sphere as it separated into the air, and with a few finger motions, Nia had it come closer, her ether stretching and transforming the bubble of water into a shape close enough to a Volf to be recognizable. It had spiky paws, a spiky tail, and a grumpy looking head with a jagged opening as a facsimile of its mouth. With a few more finger movements, Nia had the bulbus Volf running around in the air chasing bubbles and chomping on them.

Ciara's still-blue-eyes watched the bubble-Volf move around in the air, coming to sit around her eyelevel. She flailed her arms at it, probably trying to touch it and Nia just smirked, having the bubble-Volf sit and wag its tail close enough that Ciara could see and try to grab it. Her round baby Gormotti ears were moving back and forth, trying to express her excitement or frustration at the bubble-Volf just out of her reach.

Nia just chuckled, pulling her close and rubbing the top of her head with her chin, "There, there, don't go pushin' yourself," moving her fingers, Nia had the bubble-Volf come closer and Ciara flailed trying to touch it. She wound up smacking it hard enough it basically exploded, splashing her with salt water.

Gold eyes could only blink, before Nia started laughing. Ciara was startled by the bubble-Volf exploding and had started crying, but the Gormotti Blade just pulled up one of her long sleeves and started rubbing her off, "See, gotta watch what you do," petting her dark hair, Nia was glad she calmed down somewhat. "You look like you got your Ma's scowl on your face, ey."

Baby Ciara just wiggled, the little scowl not leaving.

Nia could tell she was about a second away from crying again. With a sigh she held the baby in her arms, and moved her fingers, "Alright, how about this?" another push of ether, another dance of her fingers, and another bubble formed from the sea water, coming closer, forming long ears and a tail holding a mallet, "Here, it's a Bunnit!" moving her forefingers she had it bouncing around.

The little Gormotti baby seemed to calm down enough to watch the moving water creature, still reaching out to touch it. This time when she poked it the thing just collapsed into some water on the sand.

Gold eyes just blinked as the baby scowled again, "I'm starting to think you don't like my attempts to cheer you up."

"Try a Krabble," a stern voice called out from behind the pair.

Nia's long ears went straight up as she turned to look over her shoulder with wide gold eyes. Morag was standing there, boots in the sand, arms crossed and looking every bit the Imperial Inquisitor Nia remembered.

Blushing, the Gormotti Blade turned back towards the ocean, moving her fingers and pulling out another bubble of sea water, forming it as close as she could to something resembling a Krabble. It had spiky little lets and stalk eyes, and she had no idea how anyone could tell with it still being mostly a ball of water.

Ciara apparently didn't care, reaching for the thing with more enthusiasm, making squeaky baby noises and when she touched it this time it didn't explode.

One of Nia's ears quirked, along with her brows as she watched her baby try and play with the bubble with legs, "Huh…"

"I had a shell on my desk, one of those small ones we found on the beach near Leftheria," Morag sat down next to her lover and their child, a light smile playing along her face as she took off her hat and set it on Ciara's head, the visor tilted back so she could still see the bubble-Krabble, "She took it and wouldn't let go," the Ardainian woman shrugged, "I figured she liked it."

"Was wondering where that went," Nia pouted, moving her fingers around, making the weird little bubble-Krabble skitter about as Ciara was happily screeching at it. Part of Nia thought it was funny she wanted to go after the poorly made Krabble but was still too young to crawl.

Morag watched the two; Nia in her Blade form making little animals from the sea water to entertain their daughter. It was cute. She smiled, "I didn't know you could do that…" nodding her chin, she referenced the silly looking bubble-Krabble.

"Hm, this?" gold eyes blinked, skirting towards the military woman a moment before back to the bubble-monster, "Ey, not much," she twirled one of her fingers, summoning two more bubble-Krabbles from the ocean.

Morag could tell from the crease in Nia's brow that it was more difficult than she meant it to seem, and with how 'poorly' the creatures looked… "Mmhmm?"

"Shut it," the Gormotti Blade growled, wiggling the three little Krabbles into a dance for their daughter, "Fine, its harder working with this water! It doesn't have as much ether in it as the stuff I'm used to from the Titans, must be Elysium, yea?"

That sympathetic smile grew on the Ardainian woman's face. Nervously, Morag fiddled with her hands, finally deciding to take her gloves off.

Gold eyes glanced to the side, watching her lover while trying to not make it obvious. Nia would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't interested in what Morag was doing out here. Last she'd seen she was 'busy' asleep on her desk. It had… honestly been rather cute, the Imperial Inquisitor of Mor Ardain so exhausted she just collapsed on her desk, drooling on her papers, uniform undone and a mess. Nia couldn't help cleaning up a bit, trying to save the important looking documents before leaving a blanket on her, kissing her cheek and leaving to have some 'Da Time' with little Ciara, much to Tora's encouragement.

Dromarch didn't even say anything as he left her and Ciara on the beach, just smirking and padding off to comfortable distance so Nia could be 'alone' with her daughter.

Finally deciding what to say, Nia just sighed, "I should be mad at you for coming out here…"

"You should be," Morag's shoulders were up tense, a small frown on her face as she rung out her gloves in her hand.

"Don't do that, you'll ruin your uniform," Nia chided, just hearing the fabric wrenching this way and that.

Light brown eyes blinked and Morag realized what she was doing. She didn't put them down but stopped twisting up the white gloves. A small smirk picked at the edge of her lips, "I'm already sitting in sand…"

"Yea, well," there was a grumpy pout on the Gormotti Blade's face, "Should'a thought'a that before you came to the _beach_ in _that!_ " she waved a flowing arm 'annoyed', nearly flicking Morag's own uniform. "Honestly! Who comes to a beach in a uniform!"

There wasn't a snort from the Imperial Inquisitor, she swore there wasn't, "Of course, especially considering the sand just gets _everywhere_ ," sly light brown eyes side glanced at Nia in her Blade form, "Can't imagine finely embroidered outfit is fairing any better…"

"Watch it," Gold eyes glared before the Blade scoffed, "I'll have you know I can have this fixed at any moment!" she did a little wave, twirling her finger, making the bubble-Krabbles pirouette much to Ciara's amusement, and a flick of ether was visible, "Convenient thing about Blade clothing! Made of ether, easy to fix, clean, change…"

"Take off," a low voice creeped into Nia's long ear and she realized Morag had leaned in closer.

Red crept up the Gormotti Blade's face and she lost all focus for a second, the dancing Krabbles, disappearing into a puddle in front of them and Ciara started crying.

Nia growled, finally fully turning angry gold eyes on the surprisingly close Ardainian woman, "See, see what you made me do?"

Smoothly, Morag moved to steal a kiss from Nia while also taking Ciara, holding the infant in her arms and soothing her, "Your father just gets easily distracted, yes she does~"

Gold eyes glared at the high-pitched baby talk, now crossing her empty arms annoyed, "Yer the one that distracted me…"

"Hehe," Morag held Ciara up, nuzzling the squealing baby as she was happy to both see and touch her mother's face.

Nia sulked even further, annoyed about being upstaged so easily by her lover.

"Here," suddenly Ciara was being given back to the Gormotti Blade, while Morag stood up.

"H-Hey! What do you think your-!?" Nia looked up, Ciara seeming just as surprised by the sudden transfer, and whatever further questioning Nia had was halted by what she saw.

Morag was taking her jacket off, laying it out on the sandy beach behind Nia and Ciara. Then, rolling up her dress shirt sleeves, she sat down, keeping her boots off the inner lining of her jacket and looked at the two somewhat expectantly, "Come here," when all Nia did was continue staring at her like she'd gone mad, light brown eyes rolled and Morag leaned enough forward to just grab Nia and pull her and Ciara into her lap. Setting her chin between Nia's long Blade-form ears, Morag wrapped her arms around both of them, smirking despite neither could see, "There, perfect."

The smaller woman was practically vibrating, growling out, "The hell do you think you're doin', ey?"

"Spending time with my family," there was a funny smirk on Morag's face as she just nuzzled between Nia's ears, amused when the lowered showing her annoyance.

Since it was really the only thing she could do in this situation, gold eyes glared ahead at the ocean.

Ciara made a happy gurgle sound, nuzzling into the warmth of both her parents' arms.

"I'm still mad at you," ears low, Nia's voice softly spoke.

"I know," Morag nuzzled as much as she could into the Gormotti woman's cream colored grey hair.

"This doesn't make up for you runnin' head long into your job!" she growled but tried to keep her voice low so as not to upset Ciara.

"I know," closing her eyes, Morag breathed in deeply, missing Nia's scent and the feel of her in her arms.

"And this doesn't make up for you getting mad at me for messing up all the bloody time!" her voice may have gotten a bit louder. Nia was frustrated, at herself, at Morag, at their whole situation but she refused to get angry at Ciara. Their sweet baby could be a handful, but she didn't know what was going on, so didn't deserve any of the blame.

Morag chuckled lightly in Nia's ear, kissing the top of her head, "I know," raising one hand she moved Nia's long ear out of the way so she could lean down further, finding the Gormotti woman's cheek and kiss her there, feeling as the heat grew there, "If anything this experience has taught me…" another chuckle, " _Us_ , that Blades don't have a lot of instincts for dealing with kids…"

"Yea, well…" Nia pouted, ignoring how close Morag was or the obvious blush on her face, "Wasn't exactly something programmed into us before…"

With a smile, Morag took her arms wrapped around Nia's and guided her in rocking Ciara, just a small concession. When Nia picked up what she was doing and managed to do it herself, she was rewarded by Morag's arms pulling her closer, holding her just a bit tighter.

"I'm sorry," the Ardainian woman spoke lowly to the Gormotti Blade's ear.

"I know you are," the long ear closest to Morag twitched, Nia leaning back enough to look at her. She knew that strong stern face, others would have thought it was a mask, but knew the cracks and small details that face showed. There was something Morag wanted to say, to fess up, but wasn't sure on the best way to do it. It was the face Nia had seen right before she kissed her for the first time.

Shaking her head, Nia reached up, rubbing along the side of her lover's face, letting her nuzzle it for a moment before she reached up and kissed her cheek as well, looking at her with loving eyes, "You expect too much from yourself…"

Light brown eyes just looked at her, at their daughter nuzzled to the Gormotti Blade's chest. It felt like tears were forming at the edge of her eyes, "I love you, Nia."

That smile only Morag knew appeared, as Nia guided her down gently to kiss her lips. When they separated, Nia smirked to her lips, "Don't leave me, yea?"

"I don't want to," her lips matched Nia's before kissing her again. Morag chuckled when they separated, "What brought you out here?"

Nia just smirked, facing forward again and getting cozy in her lover's arms, rocking their daughter, "You won't believe me."

"Try me," Morag held her close, wanting to cherish this precious moment.

A smirk rose on Nia's face, "Tora," it formed into a grin when she saw the surprised look on her lover's face, "I know, right?" she nuzzled closer to Morag, as comfortably as she could without disturbing Ciara, "He said I needed to spend some time by myself with Ciara, find something I like to do and do it with her…" gold eyes solemnly looked down, as her voice lowered, "Since… we both missed you, yea."

Morag held her tighter, nuzzling her head, "Sorry," a ever-so-small smirk rose on her lips, "heh, he's the one that threw me out of our room, nonetoosubtly saying I need to get some fresh air and where you and Ciara were."

A snort from the Gormotti Blade, "How the hell did he know where I was? Bloody weirdo found me earlier too…"

Morag just shook her head, "I think he upgraded Poppi's sensors…" a frown spread on her lips for just a moment, "Not sure how I feel about that."

"Hehehe," Nia nuzzled under her chin, "Trust that lil' pervert to find some new way to be a weird."

"I find it weird he has good advice," after a moment to scowl at the idea of the Nopon Engineer offering sagely advice, Morag looked down at Nia again, "I'll… try to get my schedule to something more manageable," she raised her hand, rubbing gently along Ciara's cheek, then Nia's, "So we can spend more time together."

"Good," the Gormotti Blade huffed, "Because I still have no idea what to do during my time with Ciara, but maybe she'll like watching her Ma do paperwork all day," sly gold eyes looked at Morag expectantly, "Then we need to get a babysitter and have some time just the two of us!"

"So demanding," came flatly out of Morag's mouth, not that she was against the idea, just thought it was a little funny. Then another idea came to mind bringing a smirk to her face, "Mythra did say she was going to stay for another day or two…"

Nia snickered, getting more comfortable, "Not like I say we need a _whole_ day alone," she winked at her lover, "Don't think Ciara's old enough for that."

"Of course not!" something fiery entered the Imperial Inquisitor's eyes, "She's not ready to be on her own, no matter what Mythra says!"

Nia couldn't help but laugh at the overreaction, "What? That's not… haha!" she needed to cover her mouth, shaking her head, "Did she really suggest something like that?"

"Hmp," Nia could tell that if Morag wasn't holding her she would have crossed her arms in annoyance, she did hold her and Ciara tighter though, "Her daughters aren't even a year old and she left them alone…"

There was a snort as gold eyes rolled, "They're Blades, they're fine, and they have Vess watching them, yea?" she waved one of her hands, not simply as a gesture but also to bring up a bubble of water towards them to start shaping into something else, "I mean its not like she's alone, Azami ought'a be there right? And Perun and…"

"Godfrey," came flatly out of Morag's mouth as she watched what Nia was making.

Nia made a face, "Really? You sent him there?"

"He volunteered, he was going to follow Perun anyway, and Mythra actually thanked me…" still a flat response as the bubble started to form legs.

Another snort from the Gormotti Blade, "Yea, well, when her little girl starts spouting off about _'Justice!'_ an' all that weirdness, she can't go blamin' us! She's the one that left her alone with the crazy idjit."

Trying to hold back the snicker, and failing, Morag just asked, "What are you doing?"

"Dunno," gold eyes concentrated on the ball of water, forming some wings on the creature and a tail, "Started thinking about Tyranotitan but then thought he'd look cooler with wings…"

"I honestly miss fighting that monster," Morag lowered her head to Nia's shoulder, watching as she formed a new creature out of the bubble of water. It was rough, like all of Nia's previous attempts, but it was starting to look pretty interesting, like some kind of dragon with multiple wings, a long tail…

There was a cheeky grin and laugh, "Remember when he just backhanded Mythra into a wall," that grin grew, "That was fun."

Morag just shook her head, "I'm just glad we could take that monster down. Without KOS-MOS, Herald and Poppi's QTpi mode, I hate to think what kind of destruction he could have gotten up to outside of Temperantia…"

"Hmm," Nia nodded, having her strange dragon finished, it moving as if to release a mighty roar and flying around, "Didn't it land in a mountain range or something?"

Light brown eyes stared at the Gormotti Blade in her arms, "Do you really want to talk about this, now?"

A snort as Nia's little bubble-Dragon-thing chased a few baby Krabbles, "I'm engaging you in conversation about something important with you," gold eyes flatly glared at the Ardainian woman, "Besides, you act like I don't care where you sent **_My_** Blades off to…"

With a defeated sigh, Morag just nuzzled her smaller lover, "Later, let's just enjoy this a bit more…"

"Heh, fine," despite sounding annoyed, Nia just smiled, truly enjoying the closeness and time with Morag. Also terrorizing baby Krabbles with her tiny water monster, but Morag didn't need to know that.

Ciara moved in her lap, and the baby Gormotti apparently also found it interesting to watch the tiny shelled crustaceans running from watery beams.

Nia just smirked, seeing her daughter amused, "You think that's funny, Ciara?" large still-blue-eyes looked up at Nia and the Gormotti Blade swore she smiled at her. With a wide grin of her own, Nia turned to her lover, "Ey, Morag, check it out, she's finally smiling at-!"

The Imperial Inquisitor was asleep, her arms still wrapped around Nia and Ciara with her head resting on Nia's shoulder.

Nia could only sigh, lightly shaking her head, "Of course, the second I look away," despite the gripe a smile was on her lips. Leaning as close as she dared to the sleeping Ardainian, Nia kissed the side of her temple, whispering, "I do love you Morag."

The Ardainian woman's arms gripped a bit tighter.

Nia just smiled, she'd let her lover rest, while entertaining their daughter.

* * *

 **A/N:** that last one was a Telethia, because Melia THE DESTROYER needs to show up here somehow and i was upset there wasn't a Telethia optional boss in XBC2!

Kodora can be quite literally translated to 'Tiger's Child' or 'Child tiger' or basically 'tiger cub'... yep, i'm that literal, man its nice to get back into my translating groove and ridiculously long drama infused chapters XD -whistles about WYCH-

and well... being exhausted and an adult just goes hand in hand... along with relationship stress and everyone needing a damn break, more so for having a kid :3

till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	10. Progress (Part 1)

**A/N:** and now for the latest chapter! :D

love, drama, and some tea~ (also mentions of casual relationships and oh man does that sound like a summary of all my writing -sweatdrops-)

ENJOY!

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Torigoth…

"YEEEEAAAAA WOOOHOOO! THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT EVER!"

A young Gormotti woman was screaming at the top of her lungs as she was riding through town atop what looked to be some manner of flaming man-horse.

Sitting at the outside café near the fence and fountain in Torigoth's main square, Ursula just had a bright cheery smile as she waved as the two went by. The little white haired girl looking Blade was comfortably sitting in her ice-made polar bear partner Beary's lap, as she sipped tea and watched her friend Kiara take her new Blade for a literal ride.

In the six years since their journey, Kiara had grown into a beautiful young Gormotti woman with a magnificent talent for playing the Torigonda and even grew into her singing voice. Ursula remembered when she was a young girl and offered to let her play one of her family's handmade Torigondas and how that started the icy Blade on her journey to being one of Alrest's first musical idols. Ursula looked on the memory jovially, but she was more happy to just gain the confidence to talk to people and passed on her mantle of a musical Idol to her young friend.

Kiara was well known now as a songstress and musician, partly thanks to Ursula's old manager Tipitap.

So when Morag needed someone to come to Torigoth, to be the Imperial Inquisitor's representative and to help keep an eye on the relay base still active outside the city, Ursula saw it as a great opportunity.

Looking across the table as Kiara and her new Blade trotted out of sight a moment, they'd been doing circuits around the city, Ursula's icy eyes caught on her friend.

Newt had been staring stock still at the spot Kiara had released the core crystal they'd given her since their son was released. The extremely military-inclined Blade and shameless Ardainian fangirl just could not believe THAT had been the results of the combination of their data.

"Mothers!" the bold, deep reverberating voice of the large centaur called to the two as he trotted over, holding his massive fiery arms up and gave the impression he was grinning as he did a little circle in place with his Driver giggling on his back.

His name was Clyde. He was a MASSIVE fiery centaur. His hooves were the size of a Titan weapon's foot, flames licking the ground with every step he took, while his coat was a dark red, similar in shade to Newt's hair only red instead of green for some reason. His human upper torso had bits of fiery hair here and there, particularly a bit around his core crystal on his bare chest, and his arms were comparable in size to Newt's extra appendages. The funny thing was that he had a helmet on, with no other armor, so neither of them had any idea what his face looked like and it seemed he couldn't take it off. Despite the dark shadows of it, his eyes looked kind, the same shade as Ursula's.

If it weren't for his kind eyes, jovial baritone and the fact he was a fist fighter, Ursula almost wouldn't have believed this staggering centaur spawned from a core crystal she produced.

"Look!" he happily clapped his large hands, stomping his hooves in a manner that kept a beat as if he were dancing while trotting. But that wasn't the only thing he wanted them to see, as he went in a slow circle, Kiara, sitting on his back, started playing a beautiful traditional Gormotti song with her Torigonda, not bothered in the least as her Blade moved around as a crowd started to form around Abble's Fountain.

Ursula just smiled, petting Beary as the icy familiar started swaying to the beat.

"I still can't believe THAT came from us…" Newt's red eyes just blinked, staring.

There was a melodious giggle, as the white haired Blade turned to her friend, "I guess we should report this to KOS-MOS, I'm sure she would find it fascinating to know even two female Blades can have a son."

Newt kept staring at Clyde and Kiara in the crowd, then slowly, ever so slowly, turned to Ursula… a bit of a blush appearing on her greenish cheeks before she coughed obviously, "So… there is… something… I wanted to ask you, Ursula."

"Hmm?" that adorable smile seemed far too innocent.

Newt's extra arms seemed to fidget, tapping their large fingers as the Blade herself held her chin, trying to look completely serious. She had no idea why this was extremely awkward to ask, especially since they'd already produced one core crystal, "There's… well…" when those fiery red eyes opened all she could see was the patient kind gaze of the ice type Blade in front of her. It shouldn't have made Newt as nervous as it did.

"Ahem!" suddenly the military oriented Blade stood up, making a salute with both sets of arms, "Lieutenant Colonel Padraig will be returning to Torigoth Relay Base, and pending the new Consul's approval… he is to take command!"

The smaller Blade just blinked, "My that sounds like quite a feat," Ursula smiled kindly, "We should congratulate him, after all he's done for us and the Empire." There may have been something sly behind that kind smile as she could practically read what Newt's nervous request was.

A bit of a blush escaped the military veneer, "Y-yes, yes it is!" Newt tried not to break out into a stupid grin, still holding the salute, "But yes, I formally request a proper present for our longtime colleague!"

There was a melodious giggle, "You don't have to be so formal Newt," Ursula held out her hand across the table, "I don't mind, you helped me give Kiara a present after all," her eyes turned to the large centaur and her friend, playing an impromptu concert for the denizens of Torigoth; Gormotti, Ardainian and even a few Nopon, "I'm just glad to see everyone so happy."

Stern eyes looked from the younger looking Blade's offered hand, to the crowd, their _son_ , and back before lowering her salute and taking her delicate pale hand. A soft nervous smile passing her face as Ursula gave her an accepting look.

Then Newt gave a confident, threatening toothy grin, "Yea! the Lieutenant Colonel won't know what hit him!"

Ursula just smiled with a light giggle behind her hand, "Careful Newt, you might scare off one of your few friends…"

"Hehe!" the sharky grin didn't leave.

On an Ardainian transport headed for Torigoth, Lieutenant Colonel Padraig sneezed hard enough to throw off his new cap.

* * *

There was a new city out in the wilds of Elysium, south of where Uraya had settled and seemed to be in a nice tropical spot. It was dubbed Nopopolis and was the first truly Nopon city in the new world.

Reports said it was started when Argentum Trade Guild's small Titan crash landed in the waters near Elysium. Most Titans were ill-suited to the new salty water so either died off, joining the land, or moved onto it trying to avoid any unnecessary skin damage. Argentum's Titan was no different, but it was large enough, and with a decent enough Nopon population that they could help maintain its skin from the damages of the new salt water. It couldn't quite drift in the cloud sea anymore, but it could pull the floating city where needed. With Nopon at the helm it took forever for them to decide what would be a good spot.

They wanted somewhere warm, sunny, with plentiful food and space to grow. Essentially, they wanted a built paradise, and surprisingly enough they found it.

That's where the Argentum Titan parked in the warm waters of a cove, and the floating city became the basis for the seaside ramshackle paradise that grew into Nopopolis, the city of Nopon.

The remaining Trade Guilds managed to culminate in Nopopolis, forming a shaky government. The city's deed was constantly up for grabs, being sold almost daily to the highest bidder, and laws were made by 'whoever felt like it' and generally voted in via 'Meh's. It was truly a Nopon city.

"This place is amazing, Boreas!" with childlike glee, Kasandra spun around, taking the whole place in and zipping from market stall to market stall on one of the many streets of Nopopolis. As it was a Nopon city, anything and _everything_ was for sale, and on every street or available spot.

"Hehe! It's really fun huh!" the bulbous gigantic Nopon Blade bounced about, waving his big nubby hands.

With a sweet, oblivious, giggle, the black haired mummified girl jumped on the large Nopon Blade, hugging him around his fluffy collar, "Thanks so much for inviting me! I just can't believe this place!"

"I knew you'd like it!" Boreas' beady little eyes smiled as Kasandra dropped and started skipping along the street. He didn't see Kasandra much since their time traveling as part of a team, but when his Driver asked if he could check out the new Nopon city for her, he didn't hesitate to zip over to Tantal, dropping Dahlia off, and asking if the Nopon obsessed Blade would like to join him!

He was just glad he was right, as Kasandra hadn't stood still since the second they appeared here.

"Hey! They've got Mushroom Pies over here! Fresh ones too!" her pomegranate colored eyes were wide with excitement, waving him over.

"MUSHROOM PIES!" Boraes' childlike voice squeaked as he teleported to the stand, next to his friend who was already giggling.

Neither of them noticed the foxlike mask on the back of Kasandra's head started to shake, the red eyes glowing…

"Mhhh! This is so good!" she obliviously ate more pie.

"You're telling me!" Boreas' massive belly opened up into his gargantuan mouth, putting at least five pies in without even trying.

… dark clouds started to form overhead…

"Mehmeh? Customers pay for all this?" a pink fluffy female Nopon merchant looked at the two Blades chowing down.

"Meh? Since when clouds in sky?" a few Nopon commoners were wondering about and noticed the suddenly odd dark clouds. Since the day Nopopolis came into existence it had been nothing but sunny.

… a poor weary Nopon merchant, down on his luck from his travels, just looking for some food, managed to look up and saw **_that_** mask.

"Meh?" he blinked his beady eyes, "Meh-meh?!" he knew those glowing red eyes! "MEH-MEH-MEEEEEEEHHH!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge bolt of lightning came down from the dark clouds and struck the poor down-on-his-luck Nopon merchant.

"Curse… you… unlucky… Blade…" were his last crispy words… at least until some passersby took pity on him and rushed him to the Nopon hospital. He'd live, but he left Nopopolis as soon as possible, he'd had enough troubles being around that accursed Blade!

Pomegranate eyes blinked as Kasandra glanced around, "hmm?" she finished the piece of mushroom pie in her mouth, turning around, blinking again. She didn't see anything so just turned back to the cart, tilting her head, "I could have sworn I heard something?"

"I didn't hear anything!" Boreas managed between massive munches.

Immediately Kasandra lightened up, smiling cutely, "Oh, it must have been the wind!" she giggled, completely oblivious to what had happened barely a street down.

The glowing eyes of her mask dimed, almost pleased by the bits of chaos it wrought. This place was perfect! It shook excitedly.

* * *

Fonsa Myma was still beautiful this time of year, even if the ecology of the place had changed drastically since the Titan's time swimming in the cloud sea of Alrest.

Thanks to the Titans laying down to rest, and Uraya being one of the Titans that had its 'land' inside it, many of the Urayans had a bout of freaking out when their relatively 'young' Titan started dying. It had taken a severe hit from Indol during the fight outside the World Tree, tearing open the Titan's back, so when it laid down, halfway under the salty new waters of Elysium, the Urayans were worried it would sink further and they'd drown. They didn't, thankfully, but as the Titan died its body became host to not only the life of Alrest it nurtured but other invaders of Elysium, namely small insects, and they were an ecological nuisance, especially since they LOVED the Saffronia trees.

Several Blades at the time helped protect the precious trees, along with Floren, and over time managed to save the species. Tantal got major points with the Urayan nobility thanks to Zeke's Blade.

Over the years the Urayans managed to get used to the massive sky light overhead, realizing it was inherently a good thing, as without the massive hole that took down Uraya, their entire ecosystem would have probably suffocated inside the dead Titan years ago. The Urayans were a stubborn and traditional sort, they weren't going to abandon their undersea city that easily.

Gorg was grateful for this in some sense, it meant he got to keep his pastry shop.

"And there you go, a lovely Rainbow Parfait and a couple Neon Cookies!" the vermillion haired pastry chef smiled brightly as he handed the plate to his comrade.

Clapping lightly with a bright smile, Agate cheered, "Thanks Gorg! These look great!" the pink and white Blade wasn't the biggest fan of desserts but she did love the fruity drinks Gorg had added to his menu in recent years.

The two had come to Uraya for several reasons. Gorg because he wanted to check back with his pastry shop and customers that had come to love his creations, also to test out a few new ideas he'd gotten. While Agate came to Uraya to try and show her Driver she could be just as good as, if not better, then Brighid at Minerology and maybe trying out her hand at being a diplomat.

Relations between Uraya and Mor Ardain were probably now the best they'd ever been, thanks to Emperor Niall and Princess Raquel being engaged. There had been a bit of a political scuffle some time ago when Emperor Niall and Princess Raquel announced they'd hold off on their wedding date for at least a year. The Urayan nobles had been furious, pushing for the date to be set soon, ironically similar to the Ardainian senators that wanted to see the couple cement this peace treaty NOW! It was more aggravating for them as they weren't really given a reason for it.

Agate snorted as she drank her parfait. All the Blades knew EXACTLY why the two were holding off… Ciara.

Emperor Niall was very protective of his sister and niece, must have been a family trait, so he didn't want to have such a large affair during a time his sister, and particularly his new niece, would be so vulnerable. Massive overpowered Blades present or not. Princess Raquel had been surprisingly supportive of this idea as well, even smoothing things over with the Urayan nobles, though the only one she REALLY needed to convince was her grandmother, Queen Raqura.

Hilariously, the thing that truly convinced Queen Raqura was seeing her granddaughter with a new Blade. Galahad had proven surprisingly useful in convincing the Queen of Uraya they needed some time to 'test out' these new discoveries, and freely told her grandmother about how Unique Blades now had the capacity to produce core crystals, something integral to any country's military power now that the Titans were dead and practically all common Blades had disappeared thanks to the 'Price of Paradise'.

It was also thanks to this freedom of information between the two nations that relations had somewhat improved, at least on the surface, allowing for the Imperial Inquisitor's Blades access to Fonsa Myma.

It was all a bunch of political nonsense to Gorg and Agate honestly.

She was a renowned geologist and he was a highly sought after patissier….

There was honestly no way the Fonsa Myma guard would have retained them at the port.

"So, what do you think? I tried adding a few more fruits this time, try and make it a bit more tart to balance out all the cream!" the charming Urayan Blade was leaning over the counter smiling, hoping to get some kind of critique on his new concoction.

"Oh-oh?" Agate blinked surprised, putting the Rainbow Parfait down a bit nervous, "I-is that so?" she hadn't really noticed.

"Yep!" he stood, doing a funny pose showing his excitement, "Vale suggested it! She certainly knows her desserts! HaHA!" Gorg completely missed how Agate's shoulders slumped at the mention of the dark type lancer.

"I see," well that soured her mood. The parfait was good, she wasn't going to deny that, but to think _Vale_ had any kind of hand in it just put her in a dour mood.

"Hmm," Gorg pondered out loud, moving to clean up his work station before deciding on a new concoction to test out, "She hasn't been feeling well now that I think about it…" he held his chin, missing as Agate perked up. He snapped his large fingers, a bright smile flashing on his tanned face, "I know, I'll try out a new dessert! Send that to her! It'll cheer her up for sure!"

Agate slumped again, absently eating one of the _normally_ so delicious cookies. They tasted like ash right now. - _Vale, Vale, Vale… hmp! Why is it always about her? I'm right here!_ \- an embarrassed blush raced across her face when she realized her own thoughts. - _No! no! no! I'm not like that!_ \- she quickly shook her head, it wouldn't do to think such mean things!

"Hmm?" the large fish man leaned near her, peering at her blushing face to the cookies half eaten on her plate, "Are they not good enough? Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

"Eep!" Agate squeaked, immediately waving her hands and head, "N-no, no, no! they're just as perfectly delightful as always Gorg!"

"Haha!" he gave a large thumb's up, "That's good! I don't want the quality of my work to slip just because I've been away for so long!"

"Eh-hehe…" nervously, Agate scratched her cheek, looking at the smiling man. Another blush dusted across her cheeks, "Well, no, they're fine Gorg, I just… I just had other things on my mind…"

"Hmm? Like what?" satisfied that his work wasn't causing the problem, the Urayan Blade started grabbing his equipment, prepping a new dish.

"Er… well…" the blush on Agate's pale cheeks increased as her eyes did a circuit from the counter to the tall, red haired water type axe wielder, "You're… um… well, you'll think it's silly…"

"Not at all!" a sparkling smile was sent her way before he turned back to the counter, "We've been friends for a long time Agate! If you've got a problem I'd love to help you out!"

"Yes, that's true…" and it was the problem. Her light blue eyes glanced up his strong muscular back, wondering the best way to address the _issue_. She was an attacker, being direct was really the only option she knew, "Well, Gorg, what do you think of… of Vale?"

"Oh, her?!" somehow his sparkling smile got brighter, this did not bode well for the earth type axe wielder, "I'm not sure how to describe it, I think I like her!"

It almost sounded like something cracked with a tiny squeak.

Gorg wasn't paying attention, just smiling away as he made his new pastry, "We've got a lot in common! I like making desserts, she loves desserts! She likes making new textiles and honestly, I love the patterns she's able to come up with!" he stopped a moment, almost sighing, "There's something bright and spectacular about her creativity, it comes from somewhere else I'm not used to seeing. So, while a bit strange to some, it's quite interesting to me." Another sparkling grin and a shrug, "So, I like to think I like her!"

An obvious frown spread on the honey blonde Blade's face, "But isn't her attitude so… so negative? Selfish?"

"HaHA!" Gorg just chuckled, "She does come off that way, doesn't she?" the vermillion haired man just shook his head, a funny pleased smile on his lips, "I'm not sure what it is, but well, she's challenging, and there's something engaging in that! I doubt the others get to see it very often, but every time we meet up we try to show off some new creation we've created while away, and since we share similar interests, we're good at judging the quality of the work." He held his chin, closing his eyes with a funny smile on his face, "I've given her some tough criticism in the past about her work, and she can be just as harsh back, but I think that just makes us better artists!"

Agate just sunk further and further in her chair as the vermilion haired hunk just went on so approvingly about her self-imposed 'rival of love'. It really annoyed the earth axe Blade, more so because she really didn't have a way to dispute his observations.

Agate liked rocks, the beautiful patterns and striations of new minerals was fascinating to her… textiles and pastries, design-wise, were meaningless and whatever artistic beauty they had was lost to her.

With a deep sigh she coddled her drink, "That has to be the nicest description I've heard anyone use on Vale…" a sour sip, "She must be happy…"

"HaHA!" Gorg turned back to his friend with a smile, "I wouldn't go that far, she likes a challenge, that's for sure. But I think that's what drives her more, finding that something 'new' that others haven't seen yet." He made a fist, pumped up clearly, "Something unique to her, kind of like how you are with your mining!"

"Hm?" surprised light blue eyes blinked, staring up at the Urayan Blade, "Me? And Vale? Have something in common?" the sheer idea both mortified her and astonished Agate to the point she was effectively at a loss for words.

"But of course!" oh that dazzling smile as Gorg did another one of his dramatic poses, "You both are passionate in what you do! That's why I like you both even if it's as friends!"

 _'… even if it's as friends!'_ oh that line both crushed Agate and gave her hope, since if he call them both friends that meant he wasn't involved with the dark weirdo and she still had a chance! Things were finally looking up for the earth axe-wielder!

A weird alarm started going off next to Gorg, "Oh, what's this?" it was apparently a communication device one of his employees had installed while he was gone. Taking the device that was flashing and beeping, Gorg propped it up on his counter, figuring out which was the answer button and turning it on, "Gorg's Pastry Shop! Where all our pastries are the best you've ever tasted or you haven't tried our pastries!"

There was a dismissive snort on the line as a bored looking woman with white skin and lilac hair popped on the screen, "You really need to work on that slogan…"

Agate nearly choked on her parfait at that voice.

"Haha!" Gorg just chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Yea, not my strong suit, I'm sure we'll come up with something better in no time!" he flashed a sparkling smile to Vale and help up a thumb's up, "So what do I owe the pleasure, Vale?"

Another overly exhausted sigh from the dark lancer, "Sheba's coming to town next week for one of her 'tea parties' and Morag wants me to keep on eye on her," a very annoyed scoff, "I get Nia asking me, but does the high and mighty Imperial Inquisitor _REALLY_ need to get on me about it? Its not like she can order me around… adorable baby on her hip or not."

Gorg just smiled softly, "You really are a sucker for those cute kids, aren't you?"

"Shut up, I didn't just hear that from you!" the gothic Blade glared threateningly for a second, only deflating seemingly because it was too much effort, "But yea, so I've got Sheba-duty, mind making a big order of sweets for the party? I'm going to need them if I have to fend off her advances again…"

The Urayan Blade just gave his most professional smile, "I'll have them baked and ready soon as I can! Agate and I can have them over in time for the party!"

"Wa-wait?! Me too?!" suddenly the blonde Blade's eyes were wide, Agate didn't want to deal with Sheba anymore than Vale did! The other Urayan Blade was just… _very_ aggressive towards the other female Blades. She had been somewhat thankful her Driver hadn't gone to Tantal in a while…

Sheba was… a lot to deal with…

"Of course!" Gorg smiled, turning towards his friend, "You don't mind right?"

Agate cringed, "W-well… I mean… I s-suppose I could help… but then what about our mission?" if anything she had an out to this situation! Thank her lucky stars her Driver was Morag Ladair! "I'm sure my Driver would prefer if at least one of us remained in Uraya…"

"She's right fish-face," oh why did it have to be Vale responding and agreeing with her! "Besides, I'd rather you stay there where its safe, otherwise her royal pain-in-the-ass would just use you as a man-servant again…"

"It wasn't so bad," Gorg just shrugged, not seeming to catch how annoyed that had made Vale.

"Well you stick with your shop and just have the cutesy rock girl over there send the sweets," narrow but deceptively bored looking eyes looked to the edge of the screen, clearly trying to get a glimpse of Agate, "I'm sure she'd be much more useful than you dealing with Sheba and protecting those kids she invites…"

A cross frown just passed over the sweet blonde's face, "You make it sound like she's a criminal or something."

"And she isn't?" Vale just glared a moment before turning her eyes back to Gorg, "Oh yea, by the way," she pulled something out and held it in her hand up to the camera of the communication device, "Found out why I've been feeling shittier than usual…"

In her hand was a core crystal, with a bit of a dark and watery aura around it.

Gorg made perhaps the most unmanly squeal ever produced by a male Blade, yet somehow it was still incredibly manly on the virtue of him doing it, "That's fantastic! Who do you plan on giving it too?"

"Pfft, I have no idea," Vale rolled her eyes, putting the core crystal away and looking away from how excited the fish-face was. It was clear from the image she was blushing, even if she was ignoring that fact, "Unless you have someone you want to give it to, I'll literally throw it at the next kid I see and stick around long enough to see whether or not it kills them!" a flippant wave that wasn't as convincing of her lack of interest and care as she probably hoped.

Gorg just had his chin propped in both hands on his counter, smiling like a fool at the screen, "Now I know that's not like you," he did a little pose, chuckling, "Knowing you, you'll probably give it to one of those kids you like at Sheba's tea party, let them 'protect themselves' from her as a lesson, hm?"

"S-shut up!" and with that the connection went dead, as Vale had turned the device off in her frustration.

That didn't stop the patisserie from chuckling at this new development. He was honestly glad that's what it was and not some other form of new illness for Blades or worse, Vale just not liking him around and acting sick to get him to go away. It would have had the opposite effect of course, but if it weren't for the opportunity to see his shop again he probably would have stayed in Alba Cavanich with her, whether she wanted him to or not. He had really become quite fond of the troublesome dark lancer.

Throughout the entire exchange neither of them noticed the absolute shell-shocked look that came over Agate as Vale pulled out that core crystal. The communication device may have had a bit of a grainy screen, but it was still obvious that core crystal had a dark and blue tone to it, clearly representing dark and water elements if KOS-MOS' theories on the oddities of the new core crystal auras meant anything.

Which would mean the core crystal's parents would have been a dark type and water type Blade…

And there was one of them standing in front of her right now… while the other had been on the line.

Just when Agate thought she'd had a chance with the glamourous pastry chef, that foul mouthed lancer stole him away under her nose.

Suddenly she wasn't hungry at all and dreaded going back to Alba Cavanich…

* * *

"Ohohohohohohohooh!"

Sheba's laugh was truly a test of patience.

Vale sipped her tea lightly, just pushing the thoughts of running her spear through the Urayan royal Blade's chest out of her mind. The creep would probably find some way to like it.

Agate was just stiffly sitting next to the dark lancer, eyes wide and seemingly not sure what to do or think of the situation.

"Don't tell me this is the first time you've had to deal with one of these tea parties?" light azure eyes turned to the earth Blade.

"I-its been awhile!" grumpy just did not translate well on Agate's face. It came off as more of a petulant pout, which she'd been giving Vale the whole time since she'd arrived back in Alba Cavanich.

Vale gave a bored snort, turning her eyes back to Sheba whom both of them were babysitting. The weird ether cannon wielding water Blade was tittering along about something else with a few young girls hanging on her every word. It was disgusting.

"Why am I here again?" Nia, in her Blade form, growled. She wasn't a fan of tea parties and she sure as bloody hell wasn't a fan of Zeke's ridiculous Blade!

"Sheba wanted a servant and Dromarch is the only one that seems willing to do it…" Vale hid a snicker with her tea cup, "Provided he's serving his Driver as well."

A cream colored grey brow twitched, "An' why am I all fancied up like this!"

"You fit the part better in that outfit than any of the rags your Driver form wears…" was the blunt answer from the dark lancer. Her Driver had terrible taste in outfits, at least her Blade form was redeemable in its regal airs, even if Nia's general attitude destroyed that image the second she opened her mouth.

Long Gormotti ears just went back as Nia scowled, "I could be watching Ciara…"

"Isn't it Morag's turn to watch her?" Vale lightly sipped her tea, ignoring her Driver sulk.

"Not the point!" Nia growled, "She's been up and about a while now, and been trying to talk the last month!"

"You realize babies can babble for over a year before they say their first word, right?" Agate nervously scratched the back of her head. Talking about her Driver and Nia's child was a better topic than dealing with Sheba or the other Blade next to her.

"Tch," the regal looking Flesh-Eater snorted, "Yea, and? She's smart! Got up and walking around quick enough, ey! She'll be callin' for her Da in no time!"

"They have a bet to see if she'll say 'Mom' or 'Da' first, and you know how competitive those two can get," Vale leaned over towards Agate, talking behind her hand while keeping her eyes on their objective.

The blonde Blade felt annoyed, both at the information because YES! She knew _just_ how competitive her Driver could be, and Nia had her moments, but also because it was _Vale_ telling her this like they were friends in confidence or something. She scowled behind her tea, "Aren't they technically both her 'mother' though? Both being woman?"

"Try telling that to Nia," Vale just absently waved her hand towards her Driver who seemed oddly fired up for some reason.

Agate took one look at the Gormotti Flesh-Eater, who seemed to be plotting something all by herself with a wicked grin on her face, and decided to just scoot a bit further away. All of Morag and Nia's Blades liked Ciara on principle, but none of them _really_ wanted to take sides when it came between the parents and whatever weirdness had come to their minds on raising her. The Blades _knew_ they were useless in that arena, that's why they agreed to go off and be useful elsewhere for the Imperial Inquisitor.

This ironically brought her closer to Vale, which just brought about a scowling pout on the earth type Blade's face.

Vale was just sipping her tea, watching Sheba narrowly as the water type weirdo was regaling some story to the young girls she had invited to her tea party.

"Ugh, Morag was right," Nia wobbled a bit, clearly just wanting to leave, "I am not girly enough for this, ey…"

"I believe she used a different term when you dragged her to Sheba's first tea party," the dark lancer added coolly.

Against her better judgement, Agate had to hide her snicker at the comment. She remember _exactly_ what her Driver had said about Sheba's invitation the first time around. Thank the Architect she didn't have to come!

"Shut it," the Gormotti Flesh-Eater growled, taking a sip of the arguably bland tea again.

There was a lull in the conversation, more tittering giggles from the girls and Sheba, being Sheba, and that horrid laugh of hers.

"Ey, Vale," Nia leaned over Agate, waving her hand at her Blade, "Aren't you goin' give one of these girls that core crystal of yours?"

The reaction was immediate, the dark lancer locked up and nearly spit out her drink, stopping only a moment as she leaned over covering her mouth. It would have been so uncool! Immediately she turned to glare light blue eyes at her Driver, who looked to only give her a cheeky grin.

Holding up her hands, Nia just shrugged, "What, I got to be here, yea? might as well see something interesting!"

There was the mildest of growls from the pale Blade as Vale straightened herself out, frown obvious on her face, "Of course that's the real reason you came."

There was no proper response from the Gromotti Flesh-Eater, just that cheeky grin.

With a long sigh, Vale pulled out the core crystal and set it on the table, sitting back and crossing her arms as if she wanted nothing to do with it.

Agate, sitting between the Driver and Blade, just frowned as she looked at the thing. A core crystal with the light aura of dark and water ether. Her blue eyes trailed to Vale.

"What?" the dark lancer didn't even have her eyes open at this point, but she didn't need to see it to feel the earth axe wielder's judging gaze.

The frown persisted on Agate's cute face, "Is that really how you're going to act? Just handing the symbol of your love over to a random stranger?"

"Symbol of my love?" that had light azure eyes opening and a grimace pass over Vale's face, "Ugh, that is disgusting," she shook her head, "And why not? We're Blades, just because KOS-MOS did some meddling doesn't change what we are: weapons for humans to use." A wave of her hand, "It would be crueler to hold on to it, denying a core crystal its purpose."

"Hmp!" Agate glared a moment before turning away, crossing her arms, "I will never understand what he sees in you! You're such a crass, ill-mannered Blade with no respect for anything!"

A funny smirk spread on the dark lancer's face, "Sounds about right." She looked around the room, noting the girls fawning over Sheba, letting the creep get too close to be comfortable… and the one girl that didn't, "Hey, kid, what's your name?"

"H-huh?" she was an Ardainian girl with long blonde hair and grey eyes, sitting closer to their group than the one with Sheba.

Vale just looked down on this girl with a flat look, arms crossed and gave her another look over, "Come here," she pat the seat next to her.

The blonde girl hesitate a moment, looking between the other girls and Sheba before turning back to Vale, Agate and Nia. After another moment she nodded to herself and got up, moving down the velvet sofa to sit near the gothic Blade, "H-Hi, my name is Eva."

"Hmm…" Vale looked her over again, "Vale," a pale hand reached out into the space between them, "The pretty one behind me is Agate, and the other one is my Driver, Nia."

"Oi! You sayin' I'm not pretty!" those long Gormotti ears of hers dropped as Nia scowled at her Blade.

Agate didn't respond, still miffed by this whole situation.

The young Ardainian girl, Eva, just seemed to look at them all, giving a small courteous nod before shaking Vale's hand quickly, "I-it is a pleasure to meet you…"

"We're going to have to work on your attitude kid," Vale hmped and sat back, arms crossed again, "So what brings you to Sheba's party?"

"Oh-oh, well," the blonde nervously scratched the side of her head, "Miss Sheba is very generous, soo… one of my friends comes to her parties whenever she is in town, says she gets good lessons on being a lady and how to-!"

"Gold-dig," Vale cut in with a snicker, Nia snorting behind her. The girl's embarrassed reaction brought a smile to the dark lancer's face, "I take it you're not that interested in the sweets and conversation?"

"N-not really…" the girl put her head down, her hands balling into fists in her lap, "But miss Sheba is generous with her money to those that come, so…"

"How'd you like to be a mercenary?" a wicked smirk pulled at the pale Blade's face, "Or maybe a bandit? Hmm?"

"Vale!" Nia scowled at her Blade, "Don't go tellin' a kid something like that!"

"What?" the dark lancer just shrugged, "If she had the power to make money her own way, I'm just asking if she'd rather fight for it or stay here like the rest begging from someone like Sheba who only cares about pretty girls and tea parties?" a disgruntled snort, "I'd rather be fighting right now personally then wasting my time babysitting…"

"Vale…" The Gormotti Flesh-Eater just gave a long drawn out sigh. She couldn't really disagree with her Blade, she wanted to be with her lover and daughter right now as well… or really anywhere that wasn't keeping an eye on the creeper that was Sheba.

"I-if I could…" the young Ardainian girl had her fists pumped, her voice gaining more confidence, "I'd rather be like the Imperial Inquisitor!" the quick shout surprised everyone present, and as the silence persisted the young girl blushed profusely, "I-I mean…"

Nia busted out laughing and Vale gave a slow clap even if she did have a small smile on her face.

"Then you do it!" Agate seemed to get out of her funk long enough to grab the girl's hand and look her in the eye, trying to be encouraging as possible. "I'm sure my Driver would be glad to know someone out there aspires to be like her!"

"Hopefully not too much, ey?" Nia got quickly elbowed, not that it stopped her from snickering.

"D-Driver?" Eva didn't seem to notice Nia's comment, stuck on Agate's admittance as she stared with wide eyes at the cute looking Blade.

"Mm-hmm!" the blonde Blade gave a confident nod, "My Driver is none-other than the Imperial Inquisitor, Morag Ladair!"

"Yea, and technically she's my-!" Nia was promptly silenced by a lance being summoned and hitting her in the back of the head, "Oi! VALE! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Oh, my hand must have slipped, I'm so sorry Driver…" Vale spoke flatly, bored. She wasn't whistling and she wasn't twirling her spear, of course she was not.

Nia just rubbed the bump on her head and glared at her Blade. "I wasn't gonna say nothin' inappropriate!"

The flat light azure look sent Nia's way told how much her Blade believed that.

Eva's grey eyes traveled from the pale gothic Blade to the regal looking if odd Gormotti woman and back to the white and pink Blade in front of her, "Um… what was she going to-?"

"Nothing," Vale said swiftly, getting a golden glare from her Driver.

"Nia is just a… _friend_ of my Driver," somehow the porcelain smile on Agate's face hadn't cracked, "A very… very close friend…"

"More than that, yea…" with a grump, Nia crossed her arms and looked away, clearly offended by the two Blades.

Back at the Imperial Palace a loud sneeze could be heard in the vicinity of the Imperial Inquisitor's study.

"Anyway, kid," Vale twirled her lance and it disappeared as she looked down at the girl seriously, "You want to be a Driver like the Imperial Inquisitor?"

The blonde girl got pumped, her eyes going wide, "That-that would be amazing! Then I could join the military, or a mercenary band to gain some experience and help people! Just like the Inquisitor!"

"Oi, she really does have a high opinion of Morag, don't she?" a funny smile crept up Nia's face, almost proud by association with her lover just by this young girl's opinion of her.

Agate and Vale gave Nia a flat look, ignoring her as she was in her own little world apparently before turning back to the pumped up young girl in front of them.

"Well, that settles it," Vale reached forward and took the core crystal on the table, holding it out to the Ardainian girl, "If you really think you can handle the life of a Driver, you're free to try resonating with this core crystal."

Eva seemed to hesitate a moment, looking from the Blade to the core crystal offered her. It was clear she was naturally wary of the offer; core crystals were rare, nearly unseen in recent years, and yet this Blade was just offering one to her? "What's the catch?"

A tiny smile picked at the edge of Vale's lips, "Only catch is that by taking this core crystal you're signing away your life." Her eyes narrowed, getting serious, "If you fail to resonate, you could die, and even if you do manage to get a Blade, it means you're going to live a life full of battles and one of them will eventually kill you. Its going to be hard work, living your own path with this Blade…" then she gave a shrug, "Or you can just forget about it and go back with your friend and have everything just handed to you, it's up to you."

A fierce look came over the girl's face as she shook her head sternly, "The Imperial Inquisitor got to be part of a legendary journey thanks to her beautiful Blade Brighid!" there was a fire in those grey eyes, "I want to go on such a journey, even if its hard." Reaching out she took the core crystal in hand, "Even if it means I could die…"

Vale smiled fondly at the girl, watching as she resonated with the core crystal.

There was a sudden wave of darkness, then an eerie riff of a guitar started, and almost as if out of a black portal a man appeared, standing on the table in front of them.

He was lean with pale skin, a purple long coat on and white upswept hair. He played an energetic melody on a demonic looking guitar in his hand that caught the attention of everyone present.

The flock of girls and Sheba propped up at this sudden intrusion, all of them squealing and seemingly teleporting over to the table with the white haired stranger as he played confidently on his evil looking guitar.

Then he opened his eyes, his handsome light blue eyes and turned towards his Driver, completely ignoring the new crowd of girls around him. He grabbed the neck of his guitar, waving it out and it took the form of a literal axe, showing he was a dark great axe type Blade, before making a perfect bow, a hand going over the glowing red core crystal in his chest.

"I am Sparda," his voice was deep and smooth as silk. He looked up, holding out his hand, "And who may you be, my Driver?"

"E-Eva," the young Ardainian girl was breathless, staring at the handsome man in front of her, taking his hand and he brought her up on the table with him.

Sparda just gave a charming smile to his Driver, tucking a gloved hand under her chin, tilting it up, "Hmm, Eva… this is a good name, my Driver," he gave another dramatic bow, before holding out his weapon to her, "My axe is yours."

The great axe disappeared, reappearing in Eva's hand and she squeaked, almost falling over, not necessarily from the weight of the weapon but the size, and surprised at it appearing in her hand out of nowhere.

"You're going to have to get used to that," Vale had a flat smile as she stood up, looking the two over, "A Driver has to know how to use their Blade's weapon, both to protect themselves and their Blade," her eyes trailed to the handsome male Blade, matching eyes finding each other.

"Thank you for the advice," Sparda gave a courteous nod, staring at the female Blade, "Might I ask who you are?"

"Hm," Vale gave a disinterested shrug, "Vale, but just so you know, technically I'm your mother…"

"Really?" the handsome man seemed genuinely curious.

Another dismissive shrug from the gothic Blade as she turned around, "Yes, really, though we can talk about it later, you've got a new Driver to get acquainted with…" she waved over her shoulder, heading towards the exit, "I'll be in town, if either of you need any pointers." And with that, the dark lancer left.

There was a long sigh, "Jeez, gotta make a dramatic exit, ey?" before Nia could so much as finish, Agate had gotten up and followed Vale out, "Oi! Wait!" Nia stood up, staring at the door, then turned around… spotting an irritated Sheba and horde of fawning girls all over Sparda, "Damnit! Why they got to leave this to me!"

Eva, the young girl that had come to this party because of a friend, just stared at the weapon in her hand. With this she could fight monsters, she could get a job in the military or in a mercenary band, or she could go off and find her own adventure in the new world called Elysium.

Looking up at her new Blade, at Sparda, he seemed to only have eyes for her with that charming smile and handsome looks. "Is there something you desire, my Driver?"

The blonde girl could only smile, handing the axe back to him, "Would you continue playing?"

The axe disappeared from his Driver's hand, reappearing in his own and he converted it back to its guitar form, "Anything for you, Eva."

When he started playing the other girls squealed, some swooned and all manner of cheer was had. Despite that other Blade griping behind them all.

But Sparda only had eyes for his Driver, smiling at the blush that crept on her face as he played just for her.

Nia sat back with her drink watching the whole scene. She shook her head, a small knowing smirk playing at her lips, "Yea, Morag's going to love hearing about this… hehe."

* * *

"Vale!" a voice called out in front of the Inn in Alba Cavanich.

Vale was leaning on the wall of the building in the alleyway nearby. It was dark now with a light rain, something new to Mor Ardain since the fall of the World Tree. She was trying to enjoy the dark atmosphere but knew that voice would run all around the city looking for her, missing her because Agate wouldn't think in the most obvious places.

"What!?" a cold voice spat out as Vale walked out of the darkness from the alleyway.

"Eep!" the white and pink Blade squeaked, Agate turning towards the voice with one hand on her chest, "You scared me!"

"Tch," light azure eyes rolled while Vale crossed her arms, coming out under the street light Agate was standing under, "Seems to be what I'm good at." Those eyes became sharp, "What do you want?"

That hand on Agate's chest tightened, a small frown marring her porcelain face, "Why did you run out here?"

"Why do you care?" those light azure eyes were sharp, watching the earth type Blade.

The frown tugged harder, Agate's brows furrowing, "You should be in there, enjoying your time with your son…"

"No," the gothic Blade shook her head, sounding bored as if this was all obvious, "I should be letting him get to know his Driver." Cocking her him she put one hand on it, "We're Blades, Agate, no matter what weird things KOS-MOS did, we're **_still_** just Blades, just weapons meant to be wielded by humans to fight each other…"

"How can you say then when you-!?" immediately a white gloved hand went to Agate's mouth, she had no right to say anything, it wasn't her business.

"When I what?" those sharp eyes became flat, staring at the earth type axe wielder, "When I slept with Gorg?" she shook her head, "So what?"

"So what?!" what may have been a growl but sounded more like a frustrated squeak came out of Agate's mouth as her hands became fists, "Don't you love him?!"

A pale lilac brow rose on the gothic Blade's forehead, "And?" she scoffed, ignoring the face the earth type axe wielder was making, "I'm not going to say I 'love' him, least of all to you," crossing her arms she turned to the side, frown on her face, "We get along, we share interests, and some times we have fun," she waved her hand, "Its not like my Driver cares what we do in our free time…"

Agate's hands shook at her sides, that angry look on her face, "And what does that have to do with being a weapon?" she looked down, feeling tears forming on the edge of her eyes, "I just don't understand you… how you can be so-so dismissive of something some of us try so **_hard_** to… to…"

"Forget?" Vale was looking at the white and pink Blade now, "It's what we are, and KOS-MOS proved how easily it is to tamper with what makes us what we are…" her eyes weren't as harsh anymore, a light sigh passing her lips, tired of this conversation already, "If you want him so bad, you can have him Agate…"

"I don't need **_your_** pity…" she sniffled, wiping away the tears. Agate didn't want to cry in front of Vale, of all people.

"You really do," there were footsteps and it seemed Vale came closer, just looking at the other Blade flatly.

"What do you know?" Agate raised her head, frowning at the dark lancer, angry but it just didn't translate well on her face. Part of her wanted to push Vale away, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that, "I've known him longer, he was already Nia's Blade when Morag resonated with me, I just don't get why he would rather spend any time with _you_ … especially in such a way!"

Those light azure eyes just watched the woman flatly, "Because I **_know_** him," with a sigh, Vale shook her head, "I may have been one of the last Blades Nia released, and Gorg and I have only seen each other off and on these past six years, but I **_know_** him." Her voice softened, something never seen with Vale as she was no longer looking at the Blade in front of her, lost in thought, "He's an artist, he's passionate, and he's always trying to push himself. He's an excellent leader in a fight, but that's not what truly drives him…"

Agate was watching the look on Vale's face, how it softened in a way the dark Blade _never_ showed anyone before. When she talked about the water type axe wielder she had that same look on her face he did when talking about the dark lancer.

And Agate could see it, see how clearly she'd lost and everything she was missing about these two, "You really do love him…"

"I told you I'm not saying that…" Vale crossed her arms, seemingly back to her normal irritated self.

"You miss him," Agate raised her head, meeting Vale's eyes when she turned and gave a gentle, if pained, smile, "That's why you had to leave, Sparda reminded you of Gorg…"

The barest of a blush crept up the pale Blade's face before she turned away with a hard scoff, "So what?"

That pained smile didn't leave Agate's face, but she finally understood these two, just a bit better, "I never had a chance, did I?"

Light azure eyes glanced back, a frown pulling at Vale's lips, "No… you didn't," with a deep sigh Vale put a hand through her bangs, "You've always been good friends with Gorg, I got that, but it wasn't till this last year that you started to get all weird about it…" those light azure eyes turned to the blonde Blade, narrow and accusing, "… just like how you were about Godfrey the year before?"

An embarrassed blush crept up that porcelain face before it turned angry, "How was I supposed to know! Perun doesn't show any kind of emotion beyond chivalry! I didn't know they had something going on!"

Vale just stared at her flatly, "And Aegaeon the year before that…"

"Oh that's not even fair!" now clearly annoyed, Agate crossed her arms, pouting as she turned to the side, "Why do all the good looking guys have to be taken…"

A funny sly smirk picked up on Vale's face, "Have you tried Dagas? Or Floren?" a light sinister chuckle passed the dark lancer's lips, "And what about Wulfric and Perceval, don't tell me you had a crush on them at one point?"

That blush spread across Agate's face like wildfire, "Wulfric was already chasing Adenine by the time I got on the team and Perceval… well…" the blush got deeper.

Vale just shook her head, "You're really hopeless Agate."

"Shut up!" she turned with as fierce a look as she could to the dark lancer, wanting to yell and scream about so many things and how it was so unfair she couldn't find a decently hot male Blade of her own, and… and…

A pale hand came down on Agate's shoulder, halting all her dark thoughts and when she looked up she was surprised by the oddly sincere look on Vale's face.

"I'm only saying this once and I'll deny it if you repeat it to anyone else," taking a deep breath, as if this was truly difficult of the dark lancer, she leaned in close, "Gorg and I really like you Agate, and we just want you to find someone for you, **_for you_** ," those light azure eyes stared seriously into the blonde Blade's blue ones, "But where he'd be nice about it, I'm going to say this flat out. Find someone you actually care about, not basing it on their looks or because you follow them around like a stalker…"

"I am not a-!" was the immediate protest, only for Vale's other hand to come over Agate's mouth, forcing her to glare.

"Ah-bup-bup!" the stern eyed dark lancer shook her head, "I'm talking, this is serious." A smirk rose on her lips when Agate actually rolled her eyes, "And when you get into these weird 'crush' phases you get really stalker-y…"

"Vale!" Agate pulled down the gothic Blade's hand just to yell at her.

A strange smirk pulled on the dark lancer's face as she took a step away, patting Agate on the shoulder before letting go, "Find someone for you, Agate," a shrug as she looked up at the cloudy sky, "Or don't. you don't have to define yourself compared to another anyway…"

The white and pink Blade just pouted, standing next to the dark lancer, "I hate that you're right." There was no verbal response, when Agate looked over she only saw a smirk on the Vale's face. She supposed that was one thing she could give Vale, she wasn't one to rub things in, "I suppose I should go… do something for myself for a while, clear my head…"

"Roc's always looking for help with Garfont," Vale offered flatly, "You could lead a bunch of rowdy new mercenaries and go hunting for rocks or something…"

A laugh escaped the earth type Blade, "I can't believe I want to thank you…"

"So don't," the dark Blade just scoffed, "I don't need to hear that junk anyway…"

Another laugh escaped Agate's lips as she turned to look at Vale, something different in her eyes. she still didn't like the dark lancer, particularly her attitude, but she was willing to admit, if even just to herself Vale was probably right. She had been looking for a nice hot guy to fawn over and fall in love with… not _actually_ be in love with, like everyone else.

She turned to Vale, a placid smile on her porcelain face…

"THE NERVE!" the door to the Inn behind them shot open, a short bit of a guitar solo coming out before the door was rather forcefully slammed as the Urayan royal Blade stomped out, too furious to be using her water bathtub for transportation, "We arrange this tea party for our beautiful girls and that-that-THAT MONSTER! Of a MAN! Shows up! Stealing all of our attention! HOW DARE HE!" Sheba was visibly shaking and clearly plotting something evil in vengeance against Sparda for stealing her show…

Agate and Vale just turned enough to watch the water type Blade yell and promise all kinds of revenge.

An amused smirk passed the gothic Blade's face, "Well, if you ever get truly desperate, there's always Sheba…"

Agate immediately smacked the dark lancer's arm, a cherry blush appearing on her face, "VALE!"

* * *

 **A/N:** the love triangle came out of nowhere and i shamelessly just went with it~ :D

Clyde (as in Clydesdale cause i'm just that creative~) was just so random i had to do it... and i was mortified when i realized that girl Ursula helps out was named Kiara (i swear i read it 'Keira') but eh, she's only here for this chap and for all i know that's pronounced different... right? o.o

and yes, my lovelies that would notice, as CLEARLY i love my references, particularly to other games, that is THE one and only Sparda, King of Sexy Dante from original DMC's daddy, the dapper gentleman of smooth masculine handsome himself, the most swoonworthy demon since Sesshoumaru and more of a decent gentleman then the entire Kingsman... -sigh- oh how i miss when DMC was good~ but yes! he is a DARK AXE! wielding his DARK AXE! that can become a literal dark axe :D puns~ i love them...

welp, that's all for today's updates! love to hear from you guys reading :3

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	11. Progress (Part 2)

**A/N:** I'M BACK! :D

so more to throw on this dumpster fire that i love so much for some reason :P

just some more exploring the world of Blades and what they're doing~

Enjoy!

* * *

The sun was shining brightly on the remains of the Leftherian archipelago. The large titan that housed the Spirit Crucible Elpys and the one the smaller ones surrounded, floated when it landed and became the largest island in the string of new islands forming the new Leftherian archipelago in Elysium. There were a few jagged islands that were prior land formations but now most of them had bridges of some sort thanks to the creatures of Alrest expanding and moving out into the new world and the small island Titans doing what was natural to them.

In the soft surf a green bird looking girl floated along listlessly, basking in the sunlight and warm salty waters.

She floated over to one island, landing in the wet sand and just laid there for a long time.

"Ey? Ey? Wut dis?"

"Kant say?" there was an alarming squawk, "Look Tirkin?"

"Got Fether like Tirkin, mus be Tirkin!" another squawk.

Three Tirkin with chef's hats had wondered to the beach and spotted this odd green bird looking girl just lying there in the sand.

"Poke wit stick, mite git up?" one of them suggested, shrugging.

"Is Tirkin ded?" another leaned down and poked her cheek with one of his claws.

Finch sat up immediately, purple with green iris eyes halfway open as she tilted her head this way and that, "Haa? Where am I?" she looked up, then around, "I had a mission… what was it again?" when she got up and turned around she spotted two Tirkin hiding behind one that was brandishing a stick, "Eeeey? You want to fight?" without any effort she held out her hand and summoned a big windy hammer with little wings on both ends, "I'll warn you, I'm no push over!"

The Tirkin chefs immediately dropped the stick and dropped to their knees groveling, "NOT AGAIN!"

"Haa?" Finch tilted her head to the side pretty far, glancing past the groveling Tirkin chefs and spotted a ramshackle building with a sign that read 'Five Dragons RestURnt'. Her head tilted to the other side, little bubbles coming up around her head like she might actually remember something for once!

They popped.

"Oh! A restaurant! I'm hungry!" she desummoned her hammer and walked over to the restaurant, not even noticing or caring about the groveling Tirkin at her feet.

Finch had some kind of mission from Morag, maybe it was to check out this restaurant by sampling all its food. That sounded about right!

* * *

"Alright, now Ethos," an upbeat voice called out to the small girl on the beach as Godfrey held out his own hammer, "You got to try holding it like this! See!" he held out his weapon with one hand, "And start doing a spin! Gain some momentum! And bash those baddies!" the justice nut gave a wide grin, holding up his weapon in cheer, "It's a great way to get their attention and better serve as a tank!" those light eyes of his dropped to the little girl as he leaned over, "Now you try!"

Ethos, who close to a year old looked to be about the size of a two-year-old human, just glared her orange eyes at the weird ice-covered Blade. She really did look like a mini version of Mythra only with orange hair and eyes along with a different core crystal. Both she and Logos' core crystals weren't _quite_ the strange cross shape of the Aegis that was their mothers', but they seemed to be changing as they grew so no one knew quite what they'd end up as. But like her hair and eyes, her core crystal was a bright orange while her brother's was a dark blue.

She also seemed to be developing her Blade armor, even at this young age. So far it resembled bits of bone in certain areas of her skin and the weird ribbon around her shoulders had fully formed, but it was clear this was all still in development. Though a few red 'spots' had started to form on her cheeks and the others wondered if these would develop into interesting markings.

Otherwise she was very much an orange dipped Mythra… right down to the little pouting scowl she made when things didn't quite work out her way.

Godfrey, ever the optimist and missing the scowl on the little girl's face, leaned down closer…

He got walloped in the face with a boney hammer for his troubles… much to Ethos' amusement as she started laughing.

"Oooh," Perun, Vess and Mythra had been watching and all three of them cringed. For being so young Ethos could sure hit hard.

"That looked like it hurt…" the light type Aegis winced, almost sorry for the Gormotti Blade. _Almost_ , as she knew the second he leaned in close Ethos would have taken advantage, it was really his own fault!

"I keep telling him to not underestimate his opponents," Perun gave a long drawn out sigh as she leaned against the side of the porch the other two were sitting on. Clearly this was an issue that had been repeatedly brought up between the two ice type Blades. Her stern eyes opened, watching as her partner got up, holding his face, shaking her head, "Even if they are children…"

There was another sigh as Vess could only shake her head at the two. Glancing over, the electric healer spotted Logos a bit further down the beach. She had been helping train the boy on how to use his bitball properly, but unlike his sister he seemed to be more interested in playing with his weapon than actually using it… at least for now. He looked like a baby version of Rex, they all agreed to that, just with the dark blue hair and eyes along with his core crystal being in his forehead. What little bit of Blade armor was developing on him seemed more like scales, or perhaps a body suit, and he still sucked on his pacifier even if he was probably 'too old' for it now.

"It's amazing two such distinct personalities come from siblings," Vess quietly sipped her tea, sitting comfortably on the porch and not directly addressing anyone, "One so calm and reserve, while the other is so aggressive and assertive," another totally-not-snide-sip, "Must be due to their mothers…" okay, there was a bit of a smirk on the electric demon's face.

It got a chuckle out of Perun, the chivalrous ice knight turning away, not wanting to be too obvious.

"Watch it," Mythra growled, boring a hole in the back of the electric healer's head.

"By the way, Mythra," the electric healer turned towards the blonde Aegis, ignoring her threat, "There was something I wished to ask you about," she turned up the charm, smiling at the scowling woman, "You remember those two who were the children of my former Driver? I was wondering if-?!"

"No!" a light hand came up as light eyes glared, "I'm going to stop you right there!"

"But I didn't even get to finish asking," it was almost like Vess was sulking, but the way she sipped her tea said she had been expecting this reaction.

Another growl, those light eyes narrowing as she leaned in towards the tall Blade, arms under her chest as she scrutinized the woman, "You wanted to ask about making a core crystal! To give as a 'gift' to friends, right?!" those light eyes narrowed further as Mythra got uncomfortably close, "And you were going to ask **_me_** to help out, weren't you!"

Purple eyes rolled, "So dramatic," Vess set her empty cup down, turning nonplussed towards the aggressive Aegis, "I was here when KOS-MOS came by, and she said the Aegis were capable of rapid data transfer that would result in another Blade child-!"

"Ah-ha!" Mythra was pointing at her, accusingly, "See! SEE!" turning to the side she dramatically waved her hands in a 'X' shaped fashion, "I am _NOT_ getting pregnant again!"

"I didn't say it had to be you," another sigh from the calm healer, shaking her head, "And it was KOS-MOS' theory that when done with a normal Blade as the recipient it would result in just another core crystal, so its not like either of us would _truly_ be pregnant like you were-!"

"No!" back was Mythra in Vess' face, holding up her finger and her eye was twitching, "Knowing my luck, it'd be Ethos all over again!"

"Haa?" the little bone-covered-Mythra turned at the sound of her name, blinking confused orange eyes at her mother.

"Nothing sweetheart!" an abrupt smile was on Mythra's face as she waved her hand, signaling her elder daughter go back to 'playing' with Godfrey, before she turned back to Vess with a terrifying glare, speaking quietly, "No!"

A sweet sigh from the electric healer, "You're being awfully dramatic Mythra," there was a snort behind them and Vess tossed a smirk towards Perun. Clearly her sister-Blade thought the same about this version of the Aegis, Mythra could be rather over the top at times. But turning back, Vess decided to give it one more try, "I simply thought it would be the quickest and least intrusive way to produce a core crystal."

Another swift, nearly frayed, "No!" before Mythra scooted a foot away, grumpy now, with her arms wrapped around her stomach like she felt nauseous.

There was another sigh, as Vess shook her head. So much for that idea…

Light eyes glared at the electric healer, and back at the ice knight, then back. Grumpy did not quite describe the look on her face, "Why not ask Perun or Godfrey, I'm sure they could spare one night apart…"

The look that crossed Vess' face was priceless, but Perun looked down right mortified.

Mythra smirked like a vindictive cat, Nia would have been proud, "Or how about a threeway? I'm sure you guys haven't tried that one yet!" her voice was light, almost innocent as she turned back on the chivalrous knight, enjoying every second of her dark skin going bright red. If she didn't stop, Mythra was almost sure Perun would melt, though how to interpret that was anyone's guess.

Taking pity on them, and seeing as Vess was nonplussed at this point, she just sighed, waving her hand, "Hell I'm sure Azami's around, somewhere, she's a weirdo like that right? I bet she could help you out…"

"I'm sure she's on merc missions for Roc, while spying on Rex with her clairvoyant eye…" Vess spoke calmly. It was an option, but she wasn't that interested in the prospect of asking the dark marionette for a little 'help'. - _Roc though?_ \- That was a maybe…

"Yea I wouldn't want to ask her either," Mythra snorted, moving to sit a bit more comfortably. Azami had always been a weird one, more inclined to spy on her Driver whom she claimed to 'love' but never really do much else. She was… _mostly_ harmless. Just really weird… and dark… "Damnit! Now I can't help but wonder if she's watching us while we-!"

"Momma!" a little voice called out behind the three Blade women.

"AGH!" Mythra jumped, putting her hand to her mouth. She shouldn't be saying such things with her young children nearby!

Pathos was standing by the door, blinking as she tilted her head at her mother. The little toddler was holding the side of the door, still having trouble walking around. She was the youngest of the three children, though it always amused Vess, and Perun to a lesser extent, that despite this she was already better at communication compared to her siblings. She had a harder time walking, but she could already convey sentences where the best they could get out Ethos was angry grunts and Logos rarely liked to remove his pacifier. But the little girl with the green eyes and hair, looked like a mini version of their mothers' combined form, even down to her Aegis shaped core crystal in her chest and the little horn armor piece on her head. She just smiled brightly at them all, "The com-commun-the talking thing is going off! Aunty Brighid is on the screen!"

"Okay sweetie," Mythra shot up, going to her little girl, picking her up and kissing her head, earning a delighted squeal, before putting her down and going over to check on what Brighid, and more than likely Morag, wanted… as well as pestering her rival from 500 years ago about having little core crystals of her own. Oh, how Mythra waited to see the day Brighid had to admit to **_her_** she had a kid and how they'd get their butts kicked just like her by Ethos and Pathos!

Pathos sat on the ground, popping her fingers in her mouth to suck on, as she watched her mother go in the house, then turned back to the two other Blades.

Perun gave her a kind smile, but the little girl tended to stay away from the ice knight. She was less familiar with her after all and Perun was rather icy.

Vess though, she knew. The electric healer was a constant at their house and took care of the kids a lot, even when her mother decided she needed a break and went off to Mor Ardain for a while. The same as her other mother and Rex went on that trip and been gone quite a while.

"Why don't you come sit with me, Pathos," Vess patted the space next to her. It was good to have the girl test herself with little spurts like walking across the porch, plus she rarely came outside compared to her siblings, and it'd be easier for Vess and to a lesser extent Perun, to watch her if she wasn't sitting by the door.

Those little emerald eyes glanced back in the house, then back to the Blades, before she pushed herself up and toddled towards the familiar healer. "Eep!" with a squeak she fell half way, pouting with tears forming in her eyes as she crawled the rest of the way.

"There, there," Vess just spoke softly, pulling Pathos up into her arms and consoled the girl before she cried. Communication wise she was pretty advanced for her age, as far as they knew compared to her siblings, but she was still just a toddler and stumbling her way through everything else.

"Hehe!" there was a rumble as a patch of sand suddenly erupted with a huge earth spikes… and Godfrey went flying into the water. Ethos had stomped her foot on the ground, channeling a lot of ether and caught the ice Blade off guard.

"Godfrey!" and Perun was after him, running across the water on ice to help him out. For some reason the Gormotti Blade just did not do well in water. He was not programmed to swim or something, he could barely tread water let alone float. The beach was a truly dangerous place for him, especially when Ethos decided to shoot him off into the ocean.

"MY LOVE! IT IS COLD! AND DARK!" he made a few bubbles, falling under the surf just as Perun got there, dragging him up on the ice bridge she'd made to get to him. He dramatically gasped, thanking her for his freedom from the 'evil scourge' that was ocean water.

Ethos was still laughing, pointing at her instructor as if it were the funniest thing ever…

 ** _=boink!=_**

Only to get a bitball thrown at her head, sending her skidding into the sand.

With a growl, Ethos pushed herself up, "Who?!" it was as much as she got, her orange eyes spotting Logos not far off, narrowly staring at her while his bitball bounced back to him and he caught it with ease. With a roar she grabbed her hammer and chased after her little brother, who squeaked around his pacifier and ran off, throwing his bitball behind him and managed to get Ethos in the face again.

"Oh dear," there was a deep heavy sigh as Vess put her hand to her forehead. The more the children learned about their weapons, their ether abilities and everything else normally ingrained in a Blade the second they were released from a core crystal, the more inclined to getting into fights the children seemed to be. Ethos and Logos, being the eldest and already decent enough to wield their weapons, were already getting into spats, and since their home was on a beach there was plenty of earth and water ether around for the two to feed off of to power their premature Arts.

She looked down at Pathos in her arms, glad she was still too young. Her weapon hadn't formed yet but if her power was anything like Pneuma whom she resembled so closely… well the electric healer didn't want to think about it.

"I heard screaming!" panicked, Mythra appeared at the door, "Why did I hear screaming?!"

With a deep sigh, Vess just pointed at the scene. Perun saving Godfrey while Ethos chased Logos around, getting hit by his bitball more than she actually getting close enough to get him with her hammer.

The light type Aegis' shoulders slumped, "Ugh," she walked up to the edge of the porch, hands on her hips and looking every bit the disciplinary parent, "What have I told you two about fighting?!" suddenly her light version of the Aegis sword appeared in her hand, scowl clear on her face.

Everyone in front of Mythra stopped, and for a second she thought it was because of her, causing Mythra to grin wide, glad to have all their attention.

Then a glowing green blade dropped at her side and even she had to squeak as a powerful laser beam shot out of it, destroying the rock formation Ethos had summoned.

When it exploded Ethos had actually brought up the shield part of her shield-hammer, grabbing Logos and putting him behind it as bits of rubble bounced off with ease. While behind them Perun jumped into Godfrey's arms as he did similar with his own shield-hammer.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Mythra turned around, brow twitching as she tried to keep the shock off her face.

Pathos stood in front of Vess with a worried if oddly stern look on her chubby toddler face and in her tiny, tiny little hands was the Omni-element Aegis sword Pneuma wielded.

"I think I should go call Rex…" Vess quickly stood up and made her obvious exit.

"W-wait?!" Mythra squeaked, looking from her retreating help down to her second daughter and back, "I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!" there was only a gust of wind as the light type Aegis' eyes fell back on her daughter, gripping her own weapon in her hand.

"Momma?!" clearly terrified, Pathos turned her shimmering green eyes on her mother, "What-what did I…" the poor little girl was deeply confused, her eyes turning slowly from her mother back to the weapon that just _appeared_ in her hands.

All eyes turned from the obviously scared little girl to her mother…

Mythra had no idea what to do. She hadn't worried about Ethos and Logos since they had normal weapons, sure they were a bit reckless with their ether powers here and there, but they were just developing and that was normal… maybe. Pathos on the other hand… she'd just summoned Pneuma's sword, Mythra's literal worst case scenario for her daughter. That sword was meant to destroy continents if not the planet and could summon Artifice attacks from any of the Sirens still in orbit…

It was NOT something a child should be wielding!

But Pathos looked terrified, and that was her baby girl!

Taking a calming breathe, the light type Aegis unsummoned her own sword, approaching her daughter softly, hands out and obvious, "Shh, it's okay, Momma's here…" she managed to get close enough to put her hands on Pathos' wrapped tightly around the sword, "There, now, see, not so bad?" with a gentle smile, Mythra rubbed her daughter's hands, coaxing her to let go of the sword.

It didn't really work, Pathos was scared that if she dropped the sword, even to give it to her mother, it'd shoot out another laser and with her mother so close… tears began to well up at the edges of her eyes as she trembled and looked at her mother, her tiny voice squeaking, "Momma…"

"I'm here, sweetie," Mythra tried to look calm, _hoped_ she looked calm as she held her daughter's hands, "Just… just think about letting it go, alright? Try and grab that feeling you first had drawing it… and just think about putting it away," closing her eyes, giving a gentle smile, Mythra tilted her head hoping this would work. - _Damnit! I wish Pyra was here! She's so much better at this stuff!_ \- "Just… let it go!"

Trembling, still clearly unsure, Pathos looked at her mother once more then at the big sword in her hands. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, furrowing her little brows, and tried to do what her mother said. - _Just… put it away…_ \- as she concentrated she could feel a strange pull, her hands opening and the sword began to fall.

There was a squeak and Pathos opened her eyes wide.

Mythra had panicked a moment as the Aegis sword started to fall, leaning away.

But it started to disappear, disintegrating in a digital pattern of ether until it was gone.

There was a collective sigh, Mythra turning back to her daughter smiling, "There, see, easy!" when her daughter's eyes started to water again, and it looked like she was going to cry, the light type Aegis just held out her arms, drawing her baby girl to her chest and nuzzling her head, "There, there sweetie, everything's fine." The blonde Blade picked up her daughter, looking at the others sympathetically, "I think I'll just… put her to bed…"

The others could only stare.

* * *

The sun was bright over the vast ocean making a beautiful scenery for some…

"Urgh… ugh…"

For others it was completely lost as they hung over the guard rail puking up last night's dinner.

"There, there," Pyra rubbed circles on Rex's back as the young man got sick again.

"Uuuuh… what'd that bastard chef put in the food again?" he had his head flat on the railing, trying to will his stomach to stop doing flips.

A tittering giggle was at his side, "I don't think it was the food…"

Light eyes got up suddenly, looking at her funny, "It's not cloud sickness!" the young man waved his hands about, trying to convince her, "I'm a salvager! That don't happen to salvagers!"

Pyra just backed up, laughing again, a bit more discreetly behind her hand, "Well, this isn't the cloud sea, it's just the ocean… so maybe its just seasickness?"

With a growl Rex stomped his foot, "There ain't no difference between _this_ and clou-clo…" a wave of nausea hit him and he rushed back to the railing, hanging over and spitting up saliva more than anything else.

"There… there?" and Pyra was back to rubbing his back, trying to hold back her giggles.

They had been out at sea, exploring the vast new salt water ocean of Elysium for several months now. Adenine was leading an expedition to find remnants of the World Tree that sunk below the sea, pieces that didn't burn up in the atmosphere when Pneuma shot it down. KOS-MOS had told them precise coordinates, supposedly, but only Adenine could make any kind of sense out of them.

Apparently where ever this 'treasure trove of knowledge' landed was in the dead center of the ocean between the large continents of Elysium. The base of the World Tree still existed, according to Herald, but that continent was still crawling with those mutant undead and Morytha was still dangerous. The control center, the top of the tower, or at least pieces of it, were somewhere in the middle between where the denizens of Alrest had colonized and the dark continent.

Which, all of this was easy for Herald and KOS-MOS to go on about, they'd done some extensive exploration in their five years on their own. But where Herald could cover the distance in days, maybe weeks, thanks to her unique flight capabilities, it would take a vessel carrying Salvagers months to get there. The remaining Titan ships were slow, and the new ones designed to work in this salt water weren't any better and very temperamental.

They could at least thank Mor Ardain for that. With their penchant for a more technological lean, it wasn't very hard for the Empire to figure out a way to make ships without Titans. Nothing like the Monoceros yet, but they were getting there. The main vessel they were using now, the IAS Thames, was mainly designed as a mobile platform. Great for salvaging off of, but a lot slower then the smaller defense vessels designed to protect it from whatever threats appeared.

The Urayans had been sulky, deeming this gathering of expedition ships a fleet with war potential… until Morag had signed off that Adenine could choose whoever she wanted for this mission. Salvagers from all over came far and wide for the chance to join the expedition, along with various engineers and scientists from all the new nations of Elysium. The bookish Blade who was in charge didn't care where people came from, just that they were useful.

… and were more than willing to risk their lives in any of her experiments if they cropped up… such as trying to see if anyone was compatible with the handful of new core crystals she had stored away _somewhere_.

There was a loud cheer further down on the deck, near the aft of the vessel.

No matter the navy, sailors were still sailors. There had been a bit of a rough patch at the beginning of the expedition with fights breaking out between the Urayans, Ardainians, and even the few Indolines that joined. The Tantalese and Nopons that joined tended to stay away from any spats, and the Gormotti were grudgingly used to it by now.

The Captain of the IAS Thames' solution had been to get everyone piss drunk for a week and let things sort themselves out. He was a salty old veteran of the Ardainian Navy that should have retired long ago, with a leathery bald head, a couple scars and a bushy mustache that covered most of his face making him look like a walrus. He was a fan of the old code of the 'Men! Of! The Sea!' which included lots of drinking and solving situations with one's fists.

There were a lot of fist fights among the sailors during that week, even dragging the Salvagers in and a few of the scientists that joined just wanting to get a glimpse of the remains of the World Tree.

Wulfric had LOVED it.

The black beast of a Blade had been bored and sulky being on the ocean so far away from dirt, but he'd come because it was where Adenine was, and he wasn't going to let her go wondering off a pier or something on her own. There were still a few times people would catch the wind Blade reading something so intently that she wouldn't notice she was headed for something dangerous, only for the earth beast to nudge her to safety.

But aside from babysitting his partner, he was mostly bored.

So when the Captain stopped the ship, brought out some illicit kegs that were likely NOT on the approved manifest, and everyone started getting rowdy… well there was barking laughter that echoed throughout the entire ship.

Ever since the Captain would cut engines once a week, officially to get their barring and figure out where the expedition was compared to its goal while logging it as some 'crucial maintenance'… but really it was just so the crew and passengers could cut loose any tensions.

One of the things that had become popular had been deck fist fighting. That was what the crowd at the aft was doing right now.

… and with the addition of a few more Blades, Wulfric was having much more fun going claw to claw with one of his sons then simply holding back for any human challengers.

"OOOOWAHAHAHAA!" the large black beast was smiling as the other Blade tried to tackle him around the waist, only to get a spikey elbow dropped on him. Wulfric might have been a spear wielding Blade, but he had spared with Adenine enough to get the basics of hand-to-hand combat.

"Yea! Get him in a headlock Wulfric!"

"C'mon Tai! You can kick his ass!"

The sailors, being sailors, just enjoyed watching a good fight and betting watch shifts, booze, or cash.

Tai Long was the name of one of the new Blades. He looked like an overgrown cat with spikey grey fur and spots here and there. There was no armor on him, just a pair of tattered pants with a fabric belt and wrappings around his humanoid hands. Some compared him to a Gormotti only with fur all over their body grown out too long with a beast's face and the size of an Urayan. He stood as tall as Wulfric and was just as muscular, with small green eyes and a pair of small horns on his head.

Pyra had laughed when she'd seen him, thinking that Dromarch would be upset to see a Blade that looked similar to him but stood up like humans and had hands. Then to add insult to injury, he _was_ a healer, just a fist type.

But the whole point of these strength type competitions was to NOT use their weapons, so Tai left his gloves with his Driver; a large, burly Urayan with a scar on his cheek that was the ship's doctor. Everyone just called him Doc, he was a mercenary from a small band that decided to test the Ardainian's insistence this was an inclusive expedition, and with his experience he knew that if something was going to happen, they'd need a good doctor.

Most people just mistook him for any other mercenary, until they got sent to the infirmary. When he'd had five patients nearly dead from blood loss, thanks to wounds he hadn't seen in years from fools trying to activate core crystals they weren't ready for, he had tore the ship apart to find out what was going on. When his search took him to Adenine, the windy Blade had simply offered him one of her rare core crystals and shockingly enough, the earth type fist-fighter Tai Long had come out of it.

So Doc had a new assistant, and Adenine had more information on the results of her and Wulfric's core crystals.

Tai managed to get a good combo in on the black beast, but one good headbutt from Wulfric and the man-cat was down.

"OOOOOOOOOH!" the crowd of sailors winced in sympathy, that looked like it hurt a lot. Then there were cheers, winnings exchanged, gloating and laughter as Wulfric raised his fist in triumph.

Adenine had watched the fight from atop one of the platforms on a tall mast. She wasn't sure what she should be feeling; disappointed that her fist-fighter son couldn't beat his lance wielding father in a brawl or proud that Wulfric had been improving his hand-to-hand fighting since this trip started. She supposed she wasn't truly disappointed, Tai Long was still young.

There was a loud crash, and Adenine looked to the side. She spotted one of the heavy doors leading below deck opening.

A large hulking white wolf looking creature came up a set of metal stairs, carrying two big barrels under his arms.

"Beckett! Don't go so fast! Yea!" a small blonde Gormotti woman came running up the stairs after the big wolf man. She was stumbling with a much smaller barrel and had a spear strapped to her back.

Adenine watched the two with a small smile. Beckett was another of her and Wulfric's core crystals, she'd gone through about three different crew members before this skittish little Gormotti woman from the supply department gave it a try. Both Wulfric and Adenine had been surprised to see an ice spear wielding werewolf came out. They both knew that core crystal was one of theirs, Adenine was very meticulous about them, so it was a curiosity he had an element that was neither of theirs.

After a call to KOS-MOS and a long discussion about probabilities within the core crystal data, Adenine could only theorize that there was a small chance for any of the core crystals now produced to result in the opposite element of either of the parent Blades. She also proposed to the battle android that the various non-human Blades produced from her and Wulfric's core crystals probably came from data stored in Wulfric's core crystal, since there was a chance he'd had a lot of monster Drivers. KOS-MOS found the prospect that prior Driver data could be lingering in the core crystals of all the known Blades to be fascinating, even more so that it had the potential to influence ones they could create now.

Adenine wondered if Beckett was based off some prior Volf-Driver data, same with Tai Long being Gormotti or some similar feline beast. Perhaps a serpent beast or similar reptile for Medusa?

All the speculation and possibility was fascinating to Adenine! So many factors to figure out and discover!

Beckett set the kegs down with a loud sound, gaining the attention of a lot of the sailors about. Cheers were had when they realized it was booze, and the big white werewolf just crossed his arms with a wide fanged grin.

"Oof!" the little supply girl that was his Driver bumped into his side, putting down her barrel to glare up at him, "You gotta stand there like that, all proud?!" her ears went back as she scowled at him, making the big white wolf scratch his head embarrassed.

"Careful, Beckett!" one of the Ardainian sailors called out, "Them fuzzy-ears got claws! Wouldn't want her messin' up that pretty face of yours now!" a round of laughter followed.

The big white werewolf's ears went down, clearly even more embarrassed. He didn't talk much, and despite his big size crowds weren't the easiest for him to deal with. He liked working down in supply with his Driver and reading books his mother had on hand when there was nothing to do. His white eyes glanced over to his little Driver, "S-sorry…"

The little Gormotti woman glared at the big scaredy-dog, then glared at the half-drunk sailors taunting him, "Oi! You watch it, or I'll send you off to Doc again!"

"Look mates! Kitty's got her claws out! HAHA!" a big Urayan started laughing, along with the rest.

The little Gormotti woman hissed back in response.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Wulfric gave out a joyous roar, unknowingly breaking up any fight between the humans. He was just glad to get in a punch-out with his boys and now that Beckett was here, might as well try his hand at him.

Pyra just shook her head, watching the wily group of Blades and sailors. It was good they were all… 'getting along' in some sense, and it kept moral up she supposed. It was still a strange sight to get used to. Seeing Wulfric interact with his sons, catching a glimpse of Adenine spying on them with a funny smirk from a crow's nest, it was cute in its own way.

Made Pyra miss her own kids back in Fonsett.

Rex took in a deep breath, standing up, glancing around seeing the big crowd. He got a funny look on his face, turning around and leaning on the railing, "Man, I'm starting to think I should'a stayed back in Fonsett…"

There was a titter next to him as Pyra got comfortable next to him, "I wonder how Mythra's doing, and the kids." She sent a smile towards Rex, her gentle red eyes on him.

The young man had a wide grin, dropping down to sit on the deck, "Yea, bet she's got it easy with those three," he rubbed his head, "Wonder how big they'll be when we get back?"

Pyra just smiled, "Probably big enough to give you some trouble, hmhm."

That big grin spread, "Yea, well… I'll be fine, so long as I got you and Mythra, right?" the only response the fire type Aegis gave was a smile, neither confirming or denying his plea.

A grey haired Gormotti in an Ardainian uniform came down the deck, stopping in front of them, "Rex? Pyra?"

The Aegis and her Driver looked up at the man, blinking. Rex was the one to respond, "Yea, that's us?"

The Gormotti gave a deep sigh, "Oh, good, I found you!" he gave a wide grin, "Sorry to intrude," he saluted, "Communications Officer Franz, we've received a communication for you? Seems pretty urgent."

The two blinked again, sharing a look. Pyra was the first one up, helping Rex get stable, "Whose it from? Are there any details?"

Franz seemed to get a bit uncomfortable, "A woman named Vess? Something about a sword?"

Immediately Pyra's hands went to cover the lower half of her face, partly because she was surprised what this could mean, but also excited. Warm red eyes turned to her Driver, "Rex! Do you think it might be Pathos?"

The young man just looked confused, scratching the back of his head, "Well only one way to find out, right?" he gave Pyra a wide grin, and together they followed Franz below deck.

Hopefully this would be good news, and not something along the lines like the kids blew down the house or ran after a big monster. Mythra would surely stop them from doing either of those things, right?

… right?

* * *

"It's exactly as I said," on the screen of the communications device, a blonde woman with serene purple eyes and small horns spoke calmly, "Pathos summoned Pneuma's sword."

Red and Pyra were blankly staring at the screen. Communication's Officer Franz coughed into his hand in the silence.

"What'cha mean she _summoned_ **THAT** sword?!" hands slammed on the desk as Rex leaned in to the device, eye twitching, "She's just a baby! How can she just summon **THAT** sword?!"

Vess just shrugged, holding her hands out, "You know about as much as any of us do…"

There was a ridiculously flabbergasted face on Rex, waving his hands just speechless. It had taken him a whole trip through Elpys, nearly dying various times, and the help of Mythra and Pyra to get that sword! How the bloody heck did a baby Blade barely a year old get it!?

Ignoring his clearly astonished response, Pyra leaned in, pushing Rex out of the way. The fire type Aegis was smiling cheerily, "This is great Vess, I'm glad she finally summoned her weapon," then scratched the side of her head a bit embarrassed, "Though it is a bit problematic if she summoned Pneuma's sword…" her red eyes looked at the electric healer sympathetically, "I hope no one was hurt?"

"No, just a rock," the electric demon just shrugged, "We were more surprised than-!"

Quickly Vess was shoved out of the way and angry light eyes took up most of the screen…

" _Pyra_ …"

Said fire type Aegis just looked a little nervous, "Y-yes, Mythra?"

The light type Aegis leaned back enough that she could be seen properly, scowl and all as her brows were low and she was glaring at her sister Blade. She also obviously had her hands on her hips and was irritatingly tapping her foot, "You **_know_** what this means?!" she slammed her hand on the desk, making the communications device jump.

Incidentally, Pyra jumped as well, looking ever more nervous, "N-no, n-not really?" the way she was looking away and scratching the side of her face made it obvious she did but was just trying to pretend.

Somehow the light type Aegis' glare intensified and radiated through the device.

Pyra sweatdropped, looking more nervous by the second.

"DAMNIT!" Mythra leaned into the device, her face taking it up mostly again, "I **_TOLD YOU_** this would happen! I **_TOLD YOU_**!"

"Now, Mythra…" the red flame Blade waved her hand, "Be reasonable, neither of us could have known-!"

" ** _I TOLD YOU!_** " that light colored glare intensified.

"Eh-heh…" red eyes looked away. Pyra knew her sister Aegis was right, but…

Seeing the standoff happening, and that it was getting nowhere, Rex grabbed the edge of the communication device's screen and turned it towards him, "H-hey, Mythra, what's-uh? What's the big problem?"

That overly intense glare turned to her Driver, making the Salvager squirm, "The **_problem_** , Rex," Mythra looked at him flatly before turning to what little of her sister Aegis she could see with an intense glare, "Is that now that Pathos has shown this sword, I **_NEED_** Pyra back her ASAP!"

The red flame Blade had the decency to look embarrassed, "S-sorry, Rex…"

"Wha-what?!" the Salvager looked from the woman with him to the other on the screen and back several times, "You can't?!" he leaned into the screen, clearly reflecting Mythra's tendency to do it, "You're the one that sent us out here sayin' we ought to go do something cause we was mopin' about! You can't just take back what you said?! We haven't even found anything yet!"

" _That_ was before this **crisis!** " Mythra dramatically slammed on the desk causing the screen to jump again, "Yea! I get it! Morag hasseled me enough! I don't need to hear it from either of you two!" now she was childishly pointing at the screen, "But that doesn't change the fact **_I NEED PYRA!_** " suddenly she seemed to shift gears, turning towards her sister Aegis, hands clasped below her chin and light eyes all watery, "Please, Pyra, I need you… our _daughter_ needs **you**!"

Rex was thrown back by this sudden turn, "Wh-whoa!" eyes wide with shock! "Mythra! You're serious!"

Pyra on the other hand was not moved, her red eyes flat on the screen of her sister Aegis amping up the charm, "You picked that up from Nia didn't you?"

And suddenly the spell was broken, as Mythra comically fell, quickly scramble back up and looked at the screen pleadingly, "How the hell can you deny that?! MORAG falls for that all the time!"

Those red eyes got flatter, clearly unmoved.

"Ugh," Mythra just dropped all of her acts, the brash one and the sappy begging, "C'mon Pyra, please?" light eyes looked at the redhead honestly, "I need you to help me out? I'm not strong enough to hold off that sword on my own if something happens…"

Pyra just stood back with her arms crossed, clearly mulling over the request, "Mythra," sincere red eyes looked at that nearly identical face, "You're the stronger one of us, what could I do that you can't?"

Those light eyes seemed to shimmer, and Mythra looked almost apologetic, "You're a lot better with the people stuff than I am…" nervously she scratched the back of her head, looking down, "And, besides…" those eyes looked up, locking with those similar red ones through the screen, "Pathos needs her father…"

The look on Pyra's face was emotional and sympathetic, bringing her hands up to hide her smile…

"Oi?!" Rex rolled back in the seat and leaned in front of the screen, glaring at Mythra with similar light eyes, "What about me?! Thought I was the kids' dad!"

"Shut up Rex!" those cocky eyes of the light type Aegis cut back to the young man, "I'm talking to the father of my other daughter! Not you!" she stood up with a pout, crossing her arms and looking angry before a bit of a funny smirk passed her lips, "Ethos and Logos are doing fine by the way, a bit spooked, but I heard Godfrey get thrown in the ocean again so they're fine! Hehe…"

Pyra kept smiling, showing it mostly in her eyes to her sister Blade, "Morag's going to be mad at you for letting Ethos torment her Blade…"

"Pfft," Mythra just waved her hand nonchalant, "I think Perun would be more upset, she's the one mostly babysitting him." Cracking open one light eye she looked at the redhead seriously, "So, you coming back?"

With a funny smile, Pyra leaned over, hands behind her back, "I thought we were both her mom? I'm not Nia," slyly she looked back at their Driver before chuckling back at Mythra, "And that's so mean, not including Rex like that!"

Mythra snorted, turning up her nose and cockily crossing her arms, "Only takes two people to make a Blade," she narrowly eyed the two on the screen, "And it's not like I got a chance to give permission the second time!"

Pyra just scratched the back of her head, chuckling. She'd apologized as many ways as she could think of but she knew better than anyone Mythra could be stubborn about the silliest things.

"Hey!" Rex but in again, "What about me? I got two kids too! And I worry about them! And I see Pathos as my girl too!"

"Yea well _your_ kids are fine!" Mythra leaned in again, all huffy, "They've got a handle on their weapons, and they're _normal!_ Pneuma's sword could cut the world in half!"

With a stomp, Rex leaned in as well, "Y-yea! Well! I could still help!"

The two were practically growling and as close to the screens as possible, it made Pyra laugh out loud, "Oh would you two s-stop!" it wasn't that she was nervous or anything, just having a hard time containing her laughter. The redhead waved her hand, "This isn't the time to start flirting, what would the kids think? Or Vess?"

"Thank you!" the electric demon leaned into the screen in the background, glaring flatly at the back of the light type Aegis.

Both Rex and Mythra blushed deeply, staring at Pyra embarrassed or glaring.

"I, er, well, that's to say…" Rex coughed into his hand, clearly the one embarrassed.

Mythra was still glaring, "What?! I haven't seen him in a while!" that didn't get rid of the blush on her face.

Pyra just kept chuckling, moving next to Rex to smile back at her more aggressive half, "So, you miss us now?"

The light type Aegis stood back with a huff, blush still on her face, "N-no, of course not!" she glared, the blush no less, "Like I said, need your help Pyra, and Rex…" light eyes _seeming_ to glare at the Salvager, "You can stay there!" she waved her hand, "I'm sure you're having all _sorts_ of fun…"

"Er, wouldn't exactly say that…" the young man groaned, scratching his head. He did notice the sudden attention Mythra was giving him, looking his way with a cocky raised brow. He looked away with a blush.

The fire type Aegis just giggled, "He's spent more time throwing up overboard then looking for salvage…"

"Hey!" Rex stomped his foot.

"Whaaat?" the blonde Aegis tilted her head, leaning in like she was getting a secret from her sister, "You're kidding? I'd have thought he'd have been too experienced for that sort of thing…?"

" _Sea_ sickness isn't the same as cloud sickness apparently," Pyra waved her hand, as if what she was saying was nothing really.

Flat light colored eyes stared at her Driver, up and down, then she shook her head, "I'm disappointed in you Rex."

"Oh, come on!" again the young man stomped his foot, "I'm used to salvaging in the cloud sea! On my own!" he waved his hand around, frowning, "Not surrounded by all these military types and other salvagers and weird scientists and all those that Adenine brought in!"

There was a nonchalant cough behind them.

Comically, Rex and Pyra turned around, opening the way for Mythra to see perfectly what was behind them.

A grey Gormotti ear twitched on Communication's Officer Franz, "Please, ignore me."

The two in the room turned back to the screen as if nothing happened, but Mythra was looking disturbed, pointing, "Has that guy been there the _WHOLE TIME_?!"

"Yea, ignore him," Rex waved his hand, "Just like he said."

Pyra had to giggle, "He's one of the Officers here on the IAS Thames…"

"What a weird name," Mythra crossed her arms.

"I think its nice!" clapping her hands, Pyra held them up near her cheek, "Seems nostalgic…"

There was a snort as light eyes rolled, "Sure, whatever," Mythra stood seriously, hand on her hip and looking at the two of them, "So… what are the chances I can get at least one of you back to help out?"

Red and light eyes blinked as Rex and Pyra gave each other a look, shrugging before turning back to the Gormotti Officer.

"Hey, Hans right?" Rex scratched his head, "Any chance we could get a ride back to Fonsett in Leftheria, bit of a family emergency?"

The man's grey ear flicked, "Its Franz, and you'd have to ask the Captain, but I doubt it. We're close to our destination, excavation is expected to begin within the week and we need all the Salvagers possible…" he coughed into his hand nervously, a light blush of embarrassment creeping up on his cheeks, "Though I'm sure you could ask to join a supply run, perhaps one of you could-!"

"PYRA!" "Pyra!"

"I'll do it?" red eyes blinked as the flame type Aegis looked from her sister Blade to her Driver, chuckling as she realized they all said that at once, "Well, I guess that was easily settled?"

"I'm surprised Rex," Mythra looked at the young man, a small smirk on her lips, "Thought you didn't want to be alone?"

The young Salvager just had a tight frown as he crossed his arms, "No, I didn't want to be useless!" his light eyes met Mythra's, "And you know I'd be there in a second if I could! But this **_is_** a chance of a lifetime! Digging up the World Tree! But…" he deflated as glanced between the two, scratching the back of his head, "Well, you know… I'd drop it all for you two and the kids…"

"But if only one of you can come back, even for a little bit, you're _more_ than willing to _sacrifice_ your chance and stay there, right?" Mythra had a cocky grin, leaning in close.

Rex pouted as he crossed his arms, looking similar to how Mythra did when she was trying to be cocky, "Yea, well! You're the one that wanted **_her_** and nothing to do with me!"

Light eyes rolled, "You're such an idiot sometimes…"

Pyra chuckled behind her hand, "You really can miss something obvious at times, Rex…"

The young man's bravado dropped instantly, and he looked as lost as he did back when he was a kid dealing with the two, "Hey? What?! C'mon! you two are teasing me aren't you?!"

His only response was the two Aegis laughing at his expense.

Rex just groaned, rolling his eyes, "Well least I can still use Adenine or Wulfric if they don't mind," in a huff he waved his hand, "Go on, just leave me all alone out at sea…"

"Thanks, Rex," Pyra leaned over and kissed the young man on cheek, smiling wider when he started to blush.

"Hey!" Mythra yelled, getting both their attention, looking angry… only for a second as she grinned wickedly, "Don't forget to give him one from me!"

"Wut-?!" was as far as Rex got before Pyra grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him towards her, enveloping his lips in a rough passionate kiss he'd normally expect from Mythra, who was laughing on the screen at the surprised look on his face.

Communication's Officer Franz just covered his eyes, grey Gormotti ears flat, "I'm so glad I'm not married…"

* * *

 **A/N:** i love Mythra being salty :D

so fun times playing with the Aegis triple~

the IAS (Imperial Ardainian Ship) Thames is a blatant ripoff from its Xenogears counterpart, i love the place and the reference, as well as the surly Wulrus Captain, his famous line, and Com Officer Fanz, though he was on the Yggistral... i'll work in first mate Hans i swear! :D

Tai Long is the big bad kitty from Kung-fu Panda, cause why not~ and Beckett is a reference to a character from Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, such a fun game, and thanks to Vampyr i'm really dying to play it again XD

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


	12. Lost in Temperantia

**A/N:** sorry this took forever, i got lost in a rabbit hole chasing another story idea XD

Enjoy!

* * *

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

"Ooooh! Hey Nim! Nim! Niiiiiiiiiiiiim! NimNimNimNim! **_NIM?!_** "

"WHAT?!" the high pitched voice of the chimera Blade snapped to as she jumped up. The Phonex dragons on her shoulder started biting and screeching as well.

"Agh!" Kora, the overly chatty electric demon put her hands to her ears, jumping back in shock like Nim had, "Jeez! Lighten up! I was just curious if you'd seen the lightning bolt that just shot across the sky!" her sunny disposition immediately returned, hands under her chin as Kora wiggled and giggled, "It was just so _cool!_ You should'a seen it, like seriously, it was amazing and-!"

Nim just raised her hand and put it over Kora's mouth. Over the several months they'd been out here she found that was literally the easiest way to deal with Kora's motor-mouth. It was just a result of being an electric Blade, Nim figured. All the Electric Blade's had _some_ display of over-excitement; Vess made **_WAAAAAAAAAY_** too many dumplings when she got into it, Electra had her shocking hugs, even if they'd gotten better, and Herald could destroy a mountain without even trying. Kora just talked… _a lot_.

And she seemed to prefer the physical contact over being told to shut up, still bouncing and smiling behind her hand, even kissed it a few times to try and gross her out. Kora was weird.

A scowl passed the chimera Blade's face as she counted in her head with Kit and Sunny ticking off every other second, seeing how long Kora would last this time.

The excitable electric Blade seemed to start vibrating and bouncing… then licked her hand.

"EW!" like touching something hot, Nim retracted her paw-like hand and started shaking it.

"Pleh, hair!" Kora was hunched over, wiping her mouth, "Okay, that was a bad idea, I keep forgetting you have paws not really hands!"

"Hey I've got thumbs! They're hands!" the earth type healer just jumped up and down, still waving her hand around. After a moment, and realizing how silly this was, she raised her hand up to her shoulder and had Kit check her paw. The weird Phonex dragon seemed to sniff it, snort, shaking his head then finally lick it clean… _after_ Nim growled something at him. The moment he was done he licked her face causing her to squeak, "Hey, hey, hey! Kit! Don't do that! It's like you kissed Kora and then kiss me! It's weird!" Sunny turned and licked her other cheek, making Nim release some kind of high pitched squeal, "GAH! Not you too Sunny!"

"Hey Sunny?!" suddenly Kora was next to the red maned Phonex-dragon, "Give me one!" and pointing at her cheek.

The red maned Phonex did a happy little chirp before leaning over and seemingly kissing the electric demon's cheek, causing her to giggle.

Nim was completely mortified, "SUNNY!" the two Phonex-dragons started chirping back and forth, laughing at her even though she'd be the only one to understand that. Covering her face didn't help, they seemed to chitter more.

"Hey, come here you two," there was a voice in front of Nim, behind her hands. The chittering stopped and when she dared to look between her fingers she saw Kora smiling, scratching both of the Phonex-dragons under their chins making them hum happily.

Lowering her hands enough to pout, Nim narrowly eyed Kit and Sunny. They seemed completely subdued by Kora's scratching and she could 'sort of' feel it as well, it was really weird being connected to the two at times.

"Hehehe," for some reason the black horned electric demon looked down, then smiled in Nim's face.

Those narrow eyes got more skeptical, lowering her hands and her shoulders, "What?"

"Your tail's wagging," Kora was wiggling again, unable to stay still.

"Huh?!" startled, looking down, Nim moved all about, stomping her hooves and trying to get a better look at her feathery tail… which _was_ wagging… sort of, "Oh, no, come on, don't do that too!" it was like she couldn't control her own body!

"Oh no! Now you're pouting!" Kora's hands moved from Kit and Sunny and went to Nim's cheeks, seemingly to rub them. Instead she pinched them and seemed to be trying to physically get her to smile, "There! See! Not so hard!"

"Ko-ra!" Nim growled, arms down and completely deflated… though Kit and Sunny seemed pleased and her tail was still moving.

"Hehe!" seeing her opponent had completely given up, Kora stopped pulling on her cheeks, pushing them together instead, "Sorry Nim! You can just be so cute sometimes! And fun to pet!" seemingly on a whim, the electric demon just leaned forward and kissed Nim's funny animal like nose, making her fuzzy little aquamarine ears go back.

Instead of seeming flustered like one would expect, Nim just seemed annoyed, particularly when the thunder demon finally let her go, "You're so mean, Kora!"

"What?!" not even phased, she pat that aquamarine hair, "You're just so cute sometimes! Especially when you're all pouty!"

"Ergh!" shaking and waving her hand-paws about, Nim finally managed to get out of Kora's obnoxious grip. This only resulted in the thunder demon giggling as she followed Nim's stomping hooves.

In a huff, now with Kit and Sunny happily chirping on her shoulders and Kora skipping not far behind, Nim almost wish she hadn't left Mor Ardain. **_Almost_**.

Six years and Nim _still_ didn't like Mor Ardain, despite her Driver being the Special Inquisitor! Morag was a great Driver! She put up with a lot for Nim! And the poor confused chimera Blade put in a lot of effort to try and make up for her initial prejudices to help her Driver… but she still didn't like the place so much.

… even if it had changed since the World Tree fell, the scalded dead red dust of Mor Ardain had become green fields. The toxic waters washed clean from the salt water, the entire environment had changed drastically. There were even flowers in Alba Cavanich on a regular basis nowadays.

Every time she went back, since she preferred to be out in the wild trying to find animals to talk to, there was some new detail about the scary place that she couldn't help but like. Even if she still hated the idea of Mor Ardain.

Their technology was harsh and abrasive, hadn't really changed that much, but with the lack of titans… well… the ones still around were really only the modified ones the Ardainians used, and Newt assured her time and again they _liked_ being how they were… since apparently Newt could understand them and Nim couldn't no matter how much she tried!

It still was annoying… and she'd talked with Morag about this stuff. At least her Driver understood! At least she knew this technology was bad! … but Mor Ardain needed it for one reason or another… but she was trying to encourage less destructive technologies but it wasn't like they'd go full Urayan any time soon…

It was a lot for Nim to think about, though she mostly just left it there, pouting and wondering off into the new nature of Elysium to find something new to try and talk to.

When the whole offer to check out other areas had been offered by Morag, like the other blades Nim had been excited! Mostly because no else wanted to go check out Temperantia like she did. Her main reason to head out that way was it was FAAAAAAAR away from Mor Ardain, even if technically her mission was to check on the relay base that was still there. That would be the 'official' reason for going out there, but it'd be a small portion of her journey!

Truthfully she just wanted to go see if the Phonexes were still out there. She hadn't seen many of them around on the other major Titans, even Leftheria seemed oddly devoid of the foxlike creatures. Temperantia was the only place she hadn't checked…

… and Ciara liked to pull her hair, Kit and Sunny didn't like it but if they so much as _looked_ at Morag's daughter funny, Nia would glare at them and she could be **_REALLY_** scary… especially in her Blade form!

So Nim had set out for Temperantia… and Kora followed for some reason.

Neither were really sure how long it took them to get there, neither of them were really the sorts to keep time properly like KOS-MOS or Herald, but when they finally found the Ardainian base on the Temperantian Plateau, apparently they'd been late by a month.

Nim had been unsettled by the soldiers, and they seemed to assume Kora was Morag's Blade, addressing her about all their reports, supply lists, and something about a Judicium Titan literally just wondering off into the wilderness…

Kora probably remembered it, she could recall all sorts of details that seemed really trivial, while Nim just held on to her, hiding behind her really until they could leave the Ardainian Base. Apparently they'd been managing to survive pretty well, despite the odd conditions and sparse supplies from Mor Ardain, showing off foods they'd discovered to be edible along with new animals that were also edible… and built some actual housing since most of their tents got demolished by one too many monster attacks…

It showed Nim the Ardainians _were_ capable of being adaptable and _could_ work with nature… when forced to. She supposed that was some progress.

During her time in Temperantia she'd been trying to find the Phonexes, and most days she wouldn't find any sign, and Kora would drag her back to the Base, so they at least had a nice bed to sleep on, which didn't seem like an issue for Nim. She liked sleeping on the ground, Kora was the picky one.

From what the Ardainians at the base could tell them, the entire Titan of Temperantia had just 'landed' on a mountain range six years ago. Their base managed to survive the HUGE migration of the giant monsters as they fled the place… though a few stayed and have become even bigger and scarier.

Apparently by the toxic Titan landing in Elysium, on a mountain range no less, it had settled, melding with the surrounding land and created a kind of plateau, now dubbed the Temperantian Plateau by the Ardainians stationed there. Most of the place now could grow Elysium grass and even had a few huge trees, and some of the toxic pools had purified… though it made a kind of super enhancing stuff that could get a person messed up if they drank it. It still wasn't safe, but in a pinch could help you run away faster! It was likely this new weird water that made the monsters more dangerous, or at least that was the theory…

And one of the Judicium Titans they'd been stationed there to watch had just walked off in the night… since it apparently figured out it could do that… they had no idea where it was or what it was doing.

But still, the Ardainians had no news on the Phonexes, and that upset Nim.

So the fist-fighting duo had set off to explore more of this new, weirder, Temperantian Plateau. Kora often complained about the rough conditions but Nim found it cozy… until a thunderstorm struck, which were _REALLY_ prevalent, then Kora would be super excited and dancing in the rain while Nim was trying to find somewhere to hide.

It had been a weird… however long they'd been out here.

They'd found old stone ruins, big monsters they ran from immediately, huge trees that made no sense how they formed so quickly, and strange neon plants that glowed at night. Temperantia was just exploding strange life now that it was part of Elysium.

But back to the here and now, it was barely mid-morning and already there was a dozy of a thunderstorm starting up, making Kora excitable, and Nim curse as this way she wouldn't find _any_ sign of the Phonexes if it just started raining again…

"* ** _Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech_** *"

Kit, Sunny and Nim's ears all perked up at that sound! The chimera Blade gasping deeply, looking around frantically, "That was a Phonex!" getting down on all fours she started sniffing the ground, cursing that it just smelled like a brewing thunderstorm, while Kit and Sunny were looking around frantically.

"Hey, Nim, isn't that-?!" the chatty electric demon poked the feathery tail sticking up.

"Quiet Kora!" sniffing around frantically, Nim's ears were moving parabolic trying to pick up any sound that would indicate the Phonex's direction, "I'm trying to find them!"

"Yea, but, isn't that-?!" again she tugged on Nim's tail, and again got a growl in return. "Ugh!" rolling her light green eyes, Kora just pulled Nim's tail.

"YELP!" that had the earth type Blade up and standing instantly. Turning back to glare with narrow orange eyes, she saw that Kora was just pointing, "Huh?" Kora didn't point or use body language, she _talked_ … _FOREVER!_

Raising a blonde brow, Kora just nudged her head, clearly telling Nim to just go look at what she had been trying to get her to look at.

Still a bit confused, and weirded out by her companion, Nim turned and saw…

Was that an overgrown arachnid trying to slam its face into a hole too small for even one of its claws?

"* ** _Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech_** *"

"OH NO!" with a deep gasp she was running, summoning her weapons, and jumping with a fierce growl… punching an overgrown arachnid in the face and sending it over an edge!

"Nice one, Nim!" Kora just jumped about excited, bouncing over to the spot the arachnid had been attacking, "Helllooooo? Anyone in there?!"

Talking a calming breath, Nim unsummoned her weapons and turned around, spotting Kora leaning over a small dug in hole. Her ears twitched, there was a small growl coming from it… "Wait! Kora! Don't put your hand in-!"

"YEOWCH!" pulling her hand out there was something white attached to it, and Kora was jumping trying to get it off, "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! Get it off! Get it off! **GET _OFF!_** " a bolt of lightning hit not far behind Kora… right where the hole had been…

Wide orange eyes were staring at Kora, not sure if she meant to do that or if that was just a coincidence. Either way it was way too much! "KORA!"

"Er... um… s-sorry Ni-YEOWCH! GET OFF ME!" turning the electric demon held out her hand towards Nim, clearly indicating she needed to get the whatever-it-was off her hand!

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, shhh… shh… its fine…" Nim spoke softly, holding up her hands trying to calm down the creature… though with the way Kora was staring at her with teary eyes she wondered if the electric demon thought she was talking to her? - _Weird_ -

Either way, when Kora calmed down enough to stand still, holding out her hand, Nim could see what had attached itself to her.

It _looked_ like a Phonex… though not like any she'd ever seen. It was white for one… and where the other types had three tails this one had only one big one, and it was rather pudgy.

Kit and Sunny both screeched something at her that had her chuckling, putting her hands around the pudgy Phonex, "Oh come on, that's just silly Kit, Sunny? How could this be a baby? It's the size of an adult Phonex!" with her claws around the thing, and a few scratches, it seemed to whimper, letting go of Kora's hand, and Nim brought it to her chest, letting Kit and Sunny talk to it while she listened, "There, see, you're in no trouble with us around!"

"Not so sure about that," Kora scowled, rubbing her hand. That had hurt… a lot! And she'd get her revenge… maybe, someday… okay probably not, Nim seemed to have finally found a Phonex, as weird as this one looked and…

"Hehehe! Stop, no need for that! Haha!" the pudgy Phonex was licking under her chin, tickling her and rubbing all over her chest.

Okay it was damn cute, Kora could admit that. This was probably the happiest she'd seen Nim since the World Tree fell, and that was saying something. The weird chimera was really something else when she was around the Phonexes…

"Oh, hey, huh? Really? Huh…" Nim's funny ears twitched, listening to the Phonex speak, "Is that so? That's what happened?"

"Hey! Ya mind translating!" Kora jumped up annoyed, "Not all of us here can understand those fuzzballs!"

The Phonex curled further into Nim, tickling and licking her, making her giggle again, "O-okay! I-I'll try! Hehehe…" she pet the baby, "Well, apparently this little guy's name is Lux! And he got separated from his family when a big monster came through and tried to destroy their village! So he's been on a quest to find someone strong enough to help out!" by the end of it, Nim had one hand in a fist and fire burning in her eyes.

"Heh," Kora could only shake her head, posing with her hands on her hips, "Once the hero of the Phonexes, always the hero of the Phonexes, huh?"

"Eh-heh," nervously, Nim scratched behind her ear, "Well, it's not like we can just leave this little guy on his own, can we? We've got to help! Save his village and wipe out this monster!" again, that fire was back.

A blonde brow rose, "So, where is this Phonex village?"

"Er…" immediately all three heads on the chimera Blade deflated, "Well… it seems Lux got lost so…"

"So he doesn't know where he is or where his village is, hmm?" Kora leaned forward, eyes flat.

"Well… yes?" there was a squeak from Nim, as Kora grabbed her free hand and started dragging her away, "H-hey! Wait, Kora! What are you doing?!"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" light green eyes rolled as she pointed up with her free hand, "That storm is about to break any second, and you two aren't exactly any good during those," a terrified look passed all four Phonex like faces, fur fuzzing out and everything, "Sooooooooooooo~" Kora sing-songed, wiggling her finger and smirking back at them, "I'm finding a dry spot for you guys before I go have some fun in the rain!" then gave a wide, encouraging smile, knowing this plan was kind of silly, "Then we can start finding that village for Lux, right?!"

"Oh, Kora!" suddenly Nim launched herself around the thunder demon, nuzzling her face-to-face and wrapping her free arm around her neck, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" then without even thinking Nim, Kit and Sunny all gave her a peck on the cheek.

Kora, of course, just giggled, her pointy ears wiggling, "Well, now, I think I know how most people feel with me around, huh?!" it didn't dissuade her at all, this was a lot more fun now!

They found a cave not far away that was dry, Kora grabbing a few giant leaves and such, throwing them at Nim to find some way to use them to keep dry before the thunder demon ran off, just as the downpour started and lightning struck not far away.

Nim just wrapped up in the leaves, keeping to the back of the small cave, using her body to keep the young Phonex warm. Kit and Sunny laid down on her shoulders, clearly intent to take the chance to fall asleep, Lux was out as soon as he was comfortable. Leaving Nim to sit there watching as the storm progressed…

Watching as Kora went around acting silly, acting like a lightning rod more than once, catching the lighting herself and throwing it off into the distance or absorbing it.

It was funny to Nim, she'd never actually sat and watched what Kora did during the thunderstorms before…

* * *

So they were still lost a few days later…

Thanks to Nim's ability with fish and the plentiful water sources in this part of the Temperantian Plateau, they at least weren't hungry, though Kora was getting sick of zapped fish. It just tasted weird after having it every day.

Lux didn't seem to mind, though he spent most of the day trying to find his way back to his village… and somehow being a magnet for monsters! Kora swore every time they turned around he was being chased by something else!

Kit and Sunny were very concerned by the Phonex-pup's lack of sense… though Nim would just go running after him without a single thought, so they might have just been worried about their own safety. Kora may not be able to understand their screeching, but even she could see the way they shook their heads and snorted in disapproval!

This time it seemed to be a bunch of lizards… big lizards, but still lizards. The thunder demon may have considered the idea of frying them and seeing how they tasted. Nim of course just kicked them into the next continent so there went that idea…

Though apparently that wasn't what had startled Lux this time, as he was screeching at some wall…

"Huh? Something above?" Nim was scratching her head, looking up.

A blonde brow rose as Kora stood with her arms crossed, "Is it just me, or is that a body print in that wall?" leaning in close, she got a better look at the outline, "And why's it look weirdly familiar…?"

"HEY! I HEAR SOMETHING!" came a scary bellowing from the body-shaped hole.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" all of them yelped, Kora clinging to Nim while Lux jumped into the chimera Blade's arms.

"Oh, wait… huh?" it seemed like the whole ledge just shook? "Ah, there we go, OKAY I GOT THAT ROCK OUT! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!"

Another yelp, but the trio slid closer to the weird body-shaped hole, the least they could do was _see_ who it was… then decide what to do, right?

Standing in front of the body-shaped hole, both Blades caught sight of green, mostly a pale cream color but DEFINITELY those familiar, practically glowing, lime green eyes.

"ZENOBIA?!"

"Hey! Who'd you think it was?!" the wily wind Blade seemed to growl, echoing thanks to the hole she was in, before dropping it and looking up, "Huh? How long I been in here? Could'a swore I just took a nap?"

"Zenobia?!" Kora jumped forward, gaping shocked, "Where have you BEEN?! No one's seen you in years?!"

The trapped Blade seemed to lean to the side, or her head as much as she could, "Huuuuuh? Has it been that long?" she seemed to try leaning the other way, "Hrm, thought I just took a nap?"

"H-Hey?!" Nim jumped up, next to Kora, blinking surprised, "You can get out of there, right? I mean I could probably…" her gaze fell as her words slowly dropped off.

"Hrrrrrmmmmm… hrrrrrrrrmmmmm…." Zenobia seemed to twitch this way and that, before giving a long, groaning, roaring sigh, "Uuuuuuuuuugh! All this damn earth Ether! And its so freakin' cold in here! Gah! I got no wind!"

"Uh?" Nim and Kora just shared a look, the thunder demon shrugging while the chimera looked so confused. Scratching her head, Nim just looked back at Zenobia, "Well, if it'd help…"

"NO!" a sudden yell from the body-shaped hole had the two jump back, "NO! DAMNIT! I'M THE STRONGEST BLADE! I CAN DO THIS!"

"Isn't, like, KOS-MOS and Herald the strongest Blades?" Kora questioned behind her hand to Nim.

The poor earth type Blade just shrugged, "I though Mythra was still the top Blade?" all she got in response was a just as confused shrug from the electric Blade.

"HELL NO IS MYTHRA BEATING ME AGAIN!" and it seemed with a sudden burst of SPIRIT! Zenobia yelled!

In fright, Nim jumped into Kora's arms.

… only for the rocks to shake and nothing to really happen?

The two Blades on the ground were just staring wide eyed at the lack of progress, even Lux, in Nim's arms, was unable to make sense of this.

"Oh… wait! Why didn't I think of that before?!"

Suddenly a huge gust of wind gathered and seemed to nearly pull everything into a vortex.

"YEA! COME BACK TO ME BABY!" and suddenly with a bright flash the rock was shredded, cut finely by impossible swipes and as the pieces fell around her, Zenobia stood in the air with a fanged grin and her weapon on her should, "Ha-ha! Beat that!"

The two Blades and Phonex on the ground just stared at the wind Blade, blinking incredulously.

"Wait?!" Kora suddenly dropped Nim, who squeaked, just so she could angrily point at Zenobia, "ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU **_FORGOT_** YOU COULD JUST SUMMON YOUR WEAPON!?"

Lazily, the axe-wielder scratched the side of her head and yawned, "Hey… I just woke up…" slowly she descended down to the two, deciding to 'sit' in the air instead of stand as she unsummoned her weapon again and appeared to lazily float in front of Kora, "So… what you guys doin' here?" her fanged grin appeared again as she leaned in like a thug, "Come to give me a challenge?!" before either of them could so much as move, Zenobia had sat up and punched one hand into the other, cracking her knuckles, "I could do this! Take you both on! BARE HANDED! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"NO!" Nim shot up from the ground growling, Kit and Sunny also screeching, "We came here to find out what happened with the Phonexes!" she held up Lux, "And to find this little guy's family! WE WEREN'T LOOKING FOR YOU!"

"Huh?" Zenobia seemed to lazily pout, cleaning out her ear with her pinky, "You guys didn't come here to get me? Then why'd you pull me out of that rock?"

Nim was glaring, apparently vibrating already with some manner of fury for having to deal with Zenobia's weird attitude.

Seeing this wasn't going to go anywhere soon, Kora just slipped in between them, smiling widely, "Hey-hey! We can do both! I mean no one's seen Zenny in like, I dunno, what was it? Three years? She's got no idea what's been going on! She could tell us all sorts of stories about cunning and bravery and I'm sure there's a good reason she was in that rock and _totally_ got out **_herself!_** " at this point light green eyes glared at the wind Blade, since Zenobia seemed to momentarily forget she JUST got herself out in such a dumb way! "But! First things first! We got to finish this mission for this cute little guy!" and leaning down, Kora scratched Lux under his chin, to happy chirps from the white Phonex.

Again Zenobia was scratching her head confused, "Is that thing even a Phonex?" she pointed at it, seemingly completely ignoring anything Kora just said, which was just as well, no one really paid much attention to what the chatterbox said anyway.

"I can understand it!" one of Nim's ears twitched, clearly annoyed, "So its got to be a Phonex, right!"

"Hey, sure, suit yourself," crossing her arms, Zenobia was leaning over, looking the chubby white Phonex over, "Could'a swore I'd seen something like this before…"

There was a surprised gasp all around.

"Really?" the thunder demon raised a skeptical brow.

"Is that true, Zenobia!" Nim leaned over, trying to look the wind Blade in the eye, "Do you know where his village is?! Where his parents are?!"

"Mmmmm…" the weird wind Blade just seemed to roll over in the air, seemingly thinking hard, "I could have swore I'd come across a big white thing like a Phonex…" she rubbed her chin, eyes closed and not even paying attention to the others, "Did I fight it?"

Panic spread over Kora and Nim's face, if Zenobia fought with the Phonexes, which didn't make a lot of sense since they were so small, then they'd likely have been wiped out!

There was some kind of squeak and the chimera Blade collapsed, Kora diving to catch her, "Hey! Hey! Nim! Nim! Wake up! Its okay! I'm sure she didn't mean it!" she was smacking both sides of her cheeks trying to get the fuzzy Blade to wake up.

"Huh?" lime green eyes opened, and Zenobia floated over to the two, looking down from her 'resting on air' position, "What's up with her?"

Kora had to take a deep breath, her eye twitching at this point before turning a glare at the floating dimwit! "YOU JUST SAID YOU MIGHT HAVE FOUGHT THIS GUY'S PARENTS! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED OFF THE PHONEXES! OF COURSE THAT WOULD UPSET NIM!"

"Whoa, hey, chill out, thunder-tits," Zenobia spoke calmly, waving her hands about as she returned to a sitting position, "I never said anything about killing them? Little guys like that aren't worth my time, ya know?" at the continued glare she scratched behind her head, "I was remembering fighting this big bug… it was going after some white critters, trying to eat them all… I just wanted to punch it to be honest, looked like it'd be a decent fight!" that fanged grin was back along with the light in Zenobia's eyes.

A flat glare just met her, before Kora just sighed, "Of course you would…" glancing from the unconscious Nim to Zenobia, a blonde brow rose, "You wouldn't happen to remember where you fought this bug thing?"

"Not a clue!" was Zenobia's immediate response, spoken with a bright and honest smile.

The thunder demon just sighed, "Of course you wouldn't, nrrrrggghhh…." Kora just deflated a bit. One more clue, and of course it didn't get them any closer to finding this pudgy Phonex's family.

"Here," finally the mostly white clad wind Blade set foot on the ground, leaning down to pick up Nim, holding the chimera under her arm like a sack of potatoes and tossing the Phonex to Kora, "I'll hold on to her, you got that little guy, and the two of us can look around!" that fanged grin returned, "Pretty sure I was fighting something big that smacked me into that mountain, might be around here, I need to handle that before we deal with this guy's monster!"

Frantically, Kora caught Lux, holding him close with a deep sigh. Once Zenobia started moving she couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Yes, of course, Zenobia, got to keep up those priorities right!"

"Now you're getting it! Ha-ha!" and with a boisterous laugh the wind Blade lead the way.

The black horned thunder demon wondered how long it'd take her to teach Zenobia what sarcasm meant… considering how much she could talk, and how fast, it shouldn't take that long right?

* * *

They found the carcass of something that looked remotely like a titan, all big and grey scaly skinned, only it didn't have a core crystal and its body was still around. Still the thing was _HUGE_ and there were a few distinct gashes in it that looked just like Zenobia's axe might have done it.

The smell had been enough to wake Nim back up, scrambling out of the windy hunter's grasp and trying to find air in the bushes that didn't taste or smell like a dead animal.

Kora just held her nose, looking at the thing, "So… this one of your hunts?"

"Yep!" Zenobia seemed proud for some reason, summoning her axe and poking the body, "This bastard was a fun fight, not like that Thanatobeast, but decent enough…"

"Um…" a blonde brow rose, "Could I ask why you're poking it?"

"Checking to see how long I was in that hole," Zenobia crouched down, sifting through some gross stuff, turning Kora's stomach enough she had to turn around, "This guy could put things to sleep with a gas it produced, this thing hit me with that then launched me into that wall… and looks like I was there a couple of days," reaching in she pulled out some fleshy bits and sniffed it, "Eyugh… yea, this guy isn't good to eat anymore…"

"YOU WERE GOING TO EAT THAT THING?!" apparently Nim had recovered enough to yell at the windy hunter, looking just as sick as she did a moment ago.

"Hrmm?" Zenobia had a bit of frown on her face, using ether to clean off her hands, "Yea, why not? Lot of big things around here can be eaten!" suddenly she gave a fanged grin, "Mmmm, I should really find one of those big Sauros, cut off its tail, cook it over a big fire…" and she started drooling.

"Okay," light green eyes rolled, as Kora looked down and pet Lux, "Now that that 'mystery' is solved, can we go find this little guy's home or whatever this mission entails?"

"Yeah!" Nim bounded over to her friend, holding her nose as this place still smelled of a big dead animal, "But we don't know where to look…" she side eyed the carcass, "And can we get away from _that_?"

Before Kora could even nod in response, a sudden gust of wind picked up, pushing the electric and earth type Blades back a bit.

"You guys leave the scouting to me!" with a vicious grin, Zenobia punched one hand into the other, looking up towards the sky, "Ain't no better place to scout than in the air! I GOT THIS!" and with seemingly little effort she shot up into the sky.

"WAIT! ZENOBIA-!" Nim tried to stop her, but the windy hunter had always been a 'smash first, ask questions never' sort, "Ugh! She doesn't even know what we're looking for!"

"Well, at least she's gone and entertaining herself," Kora just snorted, looking back down and giving Nim a sympathetic shrug, "If nothing else she'll find something else to fight and we might have something to eat that's not _fish_ …" then turned to leave the area, Zenobia may have blown some of the carcass away with her wind but the smell was making a comeback.

"Hey!" the chimera Blade pouted, shaking her fists down and waving her tail about, "I LIKE FISH!" then followed the thunder demon. If anything they could get away from this place and look for more clues elsewhere. If they were _really_ lucky, Zenobia could remain on task long enough and actually find something useful, and not just food or a super monster to fight…

They both knew which was more likely…

* * *

"So then I rushed down! BOOM! ZAM! CRACK! Right on this guy's skull! Hehe, he's not going to be terrorizing anything anymore!" the boisterous voice could be nonother than Zenobia, recounting her tale of masterful aerial combat before spoiling any kind of heroic image with her complete lack of table manners… not that they had a table.

Nim was stuck staring as the wind Blade somehow managed to devour half of this creature's leg in less than a minute. Picked the bone clean!

"Of course its not going to terrorizing anything anymore! YOU'RE EATING IT!" Kora growled, she didn't like growling as it wasn't very lady-like nor cute, but Zenobia could just get under her skin sometimes! She was so blunt, and stupid! And over powered and got way too excited about fighting she completely forgot the whole reason she'd gone scouting in the first place!

… the only redeeming quality to the windy hunter was she got them FOOD! Some large pterodactyl looking thing, it had apparently attacked her, tried to eat _HER_ while she was in the air and well… any encounter with Zenobia never ends well for most giant wildlife.

"Hey, you going to finish that?" mouth still full and bits of grilled flying lizard on her cheeks, Zenobia pointed at the shell-shocked Nim who had some part of the thing's wing in front of her.

"Uh, what?" before Nim could fully comprehend what was going on, Zenobia just leaned over and grabbed what was in front of her and started eating again. Not wanting to get lost watching the horror that was the wind type Blade eat again, Nim shot up and squeaked, "I'm… I'm going to go… fishing…" and stiffly walked away from their little temporary camp.

"I honestly think I might join you…" even Kora wasn't immune to the weirdly captivating power of Zenobia's poor table manners. - _Where does it all go?!_ -

"Oh, hey! Wait!" before Kora could so much as decide to stand up, Zenobia was leaning over, grabbing her arm and holding her in place, giving a wide fanged grin, "Weren't you going to tell me what you guys were doing out here?"

Immediately the thunder demon's shoulders slumped, as Kora eyed her flatly, "Didn't we just tell you about finding Lux's family?"

For some reason Zenobia laughed, waving her hand as she sat back straight on her stump, "Ha-ha, no, not that part!" sharp lime green eyes stared at the blonde, "I'm asking why **_you_** are out here? I get fuzzy," she pointed the way Nim went, "She goes running after these little guys if she gets a whiff of something wrong with them," reaching down, Zenobia pet the plump white Phonex that was nibbling a bone near her, "So that makes sense, but what are you doing out here, thunder-tits?"

"I feel like if I told you to stop calling me that you wouldn't remember and just do it again," with a pout, Kora crossed her arms over her chest as her windy adversary just held up her hands and shrugged before finding another piece of flying lizard to eat. Light green eyes narrowed on the hunter, "What about you Zenobia, why are you out here? Its been years since anyone's seen you and while no one was really worried, your Driver just figured you'd gone off to find big monsters to fight, that can't be the only reason you've not gone back to Tantal?"

The cream haired Blade just looked up, cheeks bulging with food and blinked, her funny antenna twitching about, "Hrmmm…?" she looked up to the sky, tilted her head and swallowed, "Huh, didn't really think about it?"

"Yep! That makes sense for you!" Kora just sighed, holding up her hands in a defeated shrug.

"No, no, I mean… I got in a fight with Sheba, right?" Zenobia was now pointing at the thunder demon with the bone of her latest meal, "She was doing that weird thing she does all the time, being goo-goo-eyed at me and the other girls, I don't really care, that's just how Sheba is, right?"

"Well…" nervously, Kora scratched the side of her face, "You're not wrong…"

"Right, so!" carelessly, Zenobia tossed the bone over her shoulder, Lux made a chirp and went to go get it, "I told her if she wanted to be all prissy with me she'd have to beat me in a fight!" now the wind Blade was pumped, holding up her fists and grinning wide with that fang showing, "So we went outside so as not to get yelled at by our Driver, or have him interfere, and we get going and suddenly BAM!" she punched her fist into her hand hard, making a loud popping noise to accent her point, "She kicks me SOOOOO FREAKIN' HARD! I wound up out here!" then gave a shrug, "And well, I just haven't figured out where I am and every time I go exploring these huge monsters attack me, so to be honest I didn't even realize I'd been gone that long…"

The electric Blade could only stare, mouth hanging open, "You're… you're kidding right?" the only response she got was Zenobia shrugging with another bone in her mouth, "You've been missing for _YEARS_ simply because you got **_LOST?!_** "

"Uh…" again Zenobia looked up to the sky, seeming to be considering something deeply for a few minutes. Only to shrug and talk around the bone in her mouth, "I guess so…"

Kora was vibrating. This was so stupid! But it was also so _Zenobia!_ The muscle head only paid attention to the fights she could get into, practically propositioning everyone, like Sheba, only looking for a fight instead of the weirdness that was _Sheba_. So of course it'd make sense those two not only got along but somehow their passions colliding resulted in something this _DUMB!_

Taking a deep breath, Kora let it out, let her perkiness resurface and looked the idiotic wind Blade over again, "Okay! Here's the deal Zenobia, we were sent out here to check on the Ardainian base since this is Temperantia!"

"Wait-whaaat?!" one of those funny white brows on Zenobia's tan face rose, both confused and shocked, "Nah, this can't be-!"

"Ah! SHUSH!" Kora held up one finger and looked at the fight-nut seriously, "Lemme tell you everything first!" when she got a shrug she figured it was okay to continue, "So Nim's Driver sent her out here to check on _them!_ But you know how she gets, despite her Driver being the super-uber-REALLY-important Special Inquisitor for Mor Ardain, Nim's still got this hang up about the Ardainians, especially the military and how they treat nature, right?"

Zenobia just snort, "Oh man, don't get me started, that girl is crazy! Ha-ha!"

It seemed the windy hunter ignored the flat look sent her way, because Kora knew there was no point in pointing out she was _no better!_ "So we got out here and JUST LOOK!" she pointed all around them, the huge dense rainforest of overgrown vegetation, "This place looks NOTHING! Like it did six years ago! It was a poisonous dead rock!"

There was a wistful sigh from Zenobia, "Yea, I kind of miss it…"

"You would," light green eyes rolled as Kora crossed her arms, "But that's not the point! Nim wanted to come to check on the Phonexes!" she waved her hand, "Sure, we caught up with the Ardainians, they've been doing well out here on their own basically abandoned and standing their post cause, pfft!" there was a scoff, "Really? What else are they gonna do, right?" that garnered a snort from the wind Blade, "And Nim wanted to leave them ASAP, so we go off in the wilds, find _NOTHING!_ For what must have been months, and OHMIGAWD! I haven't been this long without an actual shower!" pulling her hands up into fists at the sides of her head, Kora released some manner of frustrated squeal, "I want to go back! I thought this would be interesting… and it sorta, kinda, maybe **_has_** been fun! But FUN'S OVER! I want to get back to those Ardainian hot springs! Get an oil message or _something!_ Maybe a full body facial! I don't know!"

Zenobia was laughing at Kora's obvious frustration, she'd never been one to understand the 'finer' points of anything really.

Pointy ears twitched, and with a frown Kora opened her eyes and looked at Zenobia flatly, "But before all that…" she slowly deflated, her voice dipping low as she rested her arms on her knees and looked at their fire, "We got to help Nim find the Phonexes, she's been worried sick about them, and this big- _little_ one and his whole village problem, ugh!" Kora pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead, "You know what I mean, right?" she eyed the wind Blade, "You can't be that thick?"

There was just a wide fanged grin as Zenobia sat straight, arms crossed and looked proud, "I think you care enough about your friend to put up with all the things you hate just to see her smile, thunder-tits!" she ignored the glare Kora sent her way in order to give a boisterous laugh, "And why the hell not?! Sounds good enough to me! We handle this little pup's problem, maybe get to fight some legendary monster! And you two can help me get back home!" punching her hand, her grin widened, "I owe Sheba her winnings! And a rematch!"

Kora just sighed dourly, "Ever the optimist, eh, Zenobia?"

"What better way is there to be!" put her hands on her lap, Zenobia just threw her head back and laughed, "HA-HA!"

The thunder demon could only groan, how did she ever think Zenobia was 'easy' to deal with?

"Um…" the two Blades at camp stopped and saw Nim standing not far away, scratching behind her funny ears, with a strangely fake smile on her face.

Kora stared at the chimera Blade, suddenly wondering how much of that she heard!

"Hey, ya find anything?!" Zenobia, oblivious as always, punched her hand and kept grinning. Her question could mean anything useful, but it was obvious she was wondering if Nim found anything she could fight.

"Er, no…" Nim just nervously scratched her forehead, "No sign of anything, useful or dangerous," she deflated, looking like a sad puppy, only to bounce back with some prodding from Kit and Sunny, and held up her other hand, holding three huge fish, "But I did find some more fish, ehehe!"

"Sweet!" excitedly Zenobia clapped her hands, "You guys dig into that, I'll finish this bastard off! Ha-ha!"

Kora just groaned, leaning on her arm, "What I'd give for a dessert…" when Nim shyly sat down next to her, looking oddly nervous and subdued, offering a fish, the thunder demon just sighed, giving in, "Well, at least we've got an actual fire this time…"

She wasn't going to admit how adorable Nim looked when she perked up, wagging her feathery tail…

* * *

There was another rush of thunderstorms so Kora was having the time of her life for a short while, as even the likes of Zenobia shied away from them.

 _"I'm looking for fights! Not to get hit by lightning!_ "

It seemed even the fabled hunter wasn't fond of a few stray bolts of electricity. The thunderstorms were about the only time Zenobia sat still and even then it was just her passing out in whatever cave Nim and Lux had taken over to wait out the storm while their resident thunder demon ran off to play in the rain.

Nim often found herself sitting at the edge of the cave, arms wrapped around Lux as he chirped at the rain and squeaked at every bolt of lightning or crash of thunder. The chimera Blade could almost say she was getting used to them by now… only for a loud **_BOOM!_** To hit nearby forcing her to jump in her seat.

"Eep!" she huddled around Lux, Kit and Sunny crouching down low on her shoulders and shivering too. No animal really liked the loud noise or the obvious danger it presented.

"HAHAHAHA!" yet, out just below the rain, there was laughter to be heard.

Cracking open one orange eye and twitching her funny ears, Nim tried to find Kora amidst the water-washed world. Occasionally she'd spot lighting that was the wrong color or accented by hearts as it clashed with the naturally produced stuff crashing down from the sky. So she always had an idea where Kora was, just…

Another bolt and crash, another laugh…

And Nim had her eyes squeezed shut, trying not to shiver from her natural instinct to run from the weather.

 ** _-SNOOOOOOOOOORE-_**

The only thing that could remotely compete with the crashing thunder, rain and laughter outside was the _horrendous_ snoring coming from Zenobia as she slept. It was one of the reasons Nim and her Phonex friends couldn't sleep, not just the restlessness from the thunderstorm, and why she was sitting so close to the edge of the cave. It was as far as she could get from Zenobia's snoring without going outside.

If she reached out her hand she could touch the rain…

Another loud snore from the windy hunter combined with a crash of thunder making a horrible cacophony that had the chimera Blade and her Phonex friends squeaking.

Looking back, Nim glared at Zenobia, not that it would do her any good… she was only brave enough to really glare at the powerful Blade in moments like this, when she was most approachable… and unconscious.

He ear twitched and she picked up the laughter again, a bright flash in the distance going off as Nim turned back to the wall of rain.

With a sigh, she set her head down on Lux.

"Only a bit longer… I promise…" whether that was to comfort Lux, herself or just a prayer the thunderstorm would pass soon was anyone's guess.

* * *

Nim was acting weird. Same with Kora.

They were wondering around again today.

It was really boring.

Zenobia yawned as she sat on a rock.

They had stopped for some reason, Nim talking with the big white baby Phonex, apparently he said something, or she did or her two Phonex heads did… the windy hunter didn't know, she wasn't really paying attention. Point was it sparked some argument between Kora and Nim so Zenobia had to drop from the sky (after punching some big bird in the face cause it was being a pest. Like it could take her out! HA!) and figure this thing out.

Both Nim and Kora yelled at her to 'butt out' and that just irked Zenobia in so many different ways. Honestly, if they both weren't so cute and yelling about stuff she didn't get, and were probably the only ones to know how to get out of this place back to Tantal, she' probably have just hit them both with her axe to end this 'argument'.

At the moment she was almost bored enough to do it.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaase Kora, it wouldn't be _that_ hard…" the chimera blade had her hands together in front of her pleading. Even her little Phonex dragons were doing it.

Zenobia raised her white brow, propping her chin on her hand and looking at the two with one eye open.

Kora was blushing.

- _Well that's just weird?_ \- that white brow rose higher.

"Lux was just asking!" Nim bounced from side to side, a funny smirk on her face.

Zenobia watched her closely. It wasn't normal for the little beastly weirdo to be on the advantage here. – _And what's she talking about that little puff ball asking?_ \- lime green eyes glanced down by her foot, Lux was sitting next to Zenobia and watching the 'dispute' like she was. He was probably just as confused too.

The thunder demon stomped her food, "Do you, like, even _know_ how this works!" Kora's face was red.

"Um… no…" Nim mumbled, poking her fingers together seeming meek for a moment… before pumping her fists and jumping up and down, "But our Drivers did it! It can't be _THAT_ hard!"

 _Somehow_ Kora's face got even redder.

Zenobia swore there was steam coming out of her pointy ears. When the windy hunter looked down at the big white Phonex pup they shared a look. – _Little bastard sees it too…_ \- these two were acting weird.

"It's not _that_ simple Nim!" the thunder demon was jumping up and down, blushing like crazy.

"B-b-but it's the only way to…" Nim's face went red too, her fingers poking together and she was squirming.

"And who's to say he needs one!" Kora had her eyes closed, pouty shouting.

"How else will they defend themselves!?"

They went back and forth for a while, Zenobia and Lux just watching, as both seemed to get louder with increasing color on their faces.

It was safe to say the windy hunter was tired of not know what was going on at this point…

"Oi?" sitting up straight and crossing her arms, Zenobia looked at the two as they jumped, "What are you two going on about? And what's with all the nerves and blushing? It's not like you're asking to sleep with each other?!" she gave a broad laugh, wiping her eye, "That'd just be silly, right?!"

Nim and Kora were finally still, blushing vibrantly.

"Haa?" Zenobia tilted her head, raising a brow as her funny antenna twitched, "What? I was kidding…"

The fidgeting and blushing didn't stop.

"Jeez! Of all the people to comment-!" Kora put her hand to her face, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"She hasn't been around in… three years? She wouldn't know what's going on" Nim wasn't doing any better, her blush still easily noticeable, trying to hide it behind her knuckles. Even Kit and Sunny were hiding their faces behind their dragon paws as they were low on her shoulders.

"Haa? What? What I miss?" lime green eyes moved from one fist Blade to the other.

Nim and Kora shared an uncomfortable look.

The thunder demon just sighed, shrugging, "Well I guess someone ought to tell her…"

"Thanks Kora," the chimera smirked, still hiding it mostly behind her hands.

Pointy ears twitched as Kora put her hand on her hip, "I feel like I just got conned…" Nim giggled, but she ignored it, telling Zenobia what had been going on the past year. KOS-MOS' meddling, their Drivers having a kid, but most importantly all about the new process for _making_ core crystals…

Zenobia only really had one thing to say, "Huh."

Orange and green eyes blinked.

"Is that _SERIOUSLY_ all you have to say to ALL that?!" Kora's eye was twitching. Next to her Nim was just stuck blinking, just as surprised by the lack of response as her friend.

"Eh?" Zenobia just shrugged, face placid as she sat there on the rock with her arms crossed.

Flexing her hands, Kora just couldn't comprehend. "Ugh!" throwing her hands up she had to get away, stomping off for a bit. Really just trying to not punch the clearly idiotic wind hunter.

"Um…" Nim just looked confused, not sure what to do.

"So you want to give this little guy a core crystal, right?" lime green eyes flatly looked between the two, landing on Nim in the end, "And you just need a 'partner', right?"

"Ah-eh-haha…" looking to the side, Nim seemed to be sweating, scratching her cheek with one of her big paw like hands, "Y-yes…"

"Well why didn't you just ask?!" Zenobia was grinning wide, fanged tooth showing.

"Uhhh…" Nim seemed to shrink, looking like a terrified animal.

With a burst of wind ether Zenobia shot up onto her feet, looking big, intimidating and excited as she approached the smaller Blade, putting both hands on her shoulders.

Nim looked terrified of what was going to come out of the windy hunter's mouth.

"Well! Just let me take care of-!" was as far as Zenobia got.

"NIM YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" before Kora just grabbed her friend's hand and dragged her away from the clearly deranged overpowered Blade.

Zenobia just blinked, scratching her head, "huh?" she pouted, crossing her arms, "If you wanted to spar with her so bad thunder-tits, why didn't you just say so before?!"

The windy hunter just grumped, hopping into the air and crossed her legs, sulking.

She only really paid attention to about half the things Kora said, and far as she understood to make a core crystal a Blade needed a 'partner' and it took a lot of work. – _Sounded like good training to me…_ \- it would have probably been really fun.

She could probably try it with Sheba when she got back…

* * *

Nim was blushing furiously.

In her hands was a core crystal with a brown and yellow aura.

Kora was blushing near her, but smiling all the same. The thunder demon seemed a bit embarrassed but she wanted to be encouraging to her… _friend_.

Those orange eyes met seafoam green ones.

The two still blushed when their eyes met. It was a bit awkward but there had been _some_ improvement.

According to Zenobia they could look at each other now.

"So that's how it's done huh?" the windy hunter sat floating in the air, looking at the core crystal in Nim's hands. The weird little chimera Blade had been acting worn out for the past month, and she was struggling and sick for the past few days. Kora took care of her, _refusing_ to let anyone else do it, so this was the first time Zenobia had gotten this close to the two in a while. She leaned in, looking at the core crystal from all sides, "Huh…"

"Don't sound so impressed," Kora huffed, closing her eyes and shrugging, "This is normal nowadays."

Nim just sat there blushing, she really had nothing to add.

Lux chirped wagging his tail, making a cute little sound almost like whistling.

It made Nim smile, Kit and Sunny were doing a little dance on her shoulders, chirping along with the white mega-Phonex.

The chimera Blade kneeled on the ground, holding out the core crystal to the young mega-Phonex, "Here!"

Lux chirped and smiled, standing up and doing a little padding dance, before putting his nose on the core crystal.

Kora and Zenobia stared, blinking, not even having a chance to say a thing as the little mega-Phonex activated the core crystal.

There was a flash of light, and when it disappeared there was a large white fluff ball in front of them.

All three Blades raised their brows, surprised by this…

Lux jumped, chirping as he padded over to the white fluff ball. He poked it with his nose and it seemed to shake and quiver.

Suddenly it seemed to roll over and there was a long yawn…

It seemed the white fluff ball was actually a large furry white pelt on a small girl's back. From the hood it looked to be a Phonex, a large white mega-Phonex in fact, with two tails on the end. She appeared to be a little girl, but with some Phonex features similar to Nim such as her fuzzy ears and nose, though had black horns like Kora.

When she opened her eyes they were orange like Nim's as the girl seemed to be in a daze of waking up.

"Eep!" the moment she became a bit more aware she popped up immediately, eyes wide, blushing adorably and her funny ears perked, "Ah-um…" she fidgeted, the two white tails actually seemed to be attached to her as they waved about.

Lux chirped, padding his front paws and waving his tail about back and forth.

The odd girl looked down and noticed him. She gasped happily, putting her hands together and smiling wide, "Oh, nice to meet you my Driver!" she reached out and picked him up, humming in her throat as he chirped some more, loving the attention, "Hehehe…"

"Huh…" Zenobia blinked, leaning over to look at the odd girl, "And I thought Nim was weird…"

Absently Nim just nodded, blinking unsure how to respond. Kit and Sunny were chirping behind her head, clearly having some conversation only she could hear.

Or so they thought…

The fluffy girl started laughing, her ears perking up through her hood, "Papa Kit and Papa Sunny so funny!" she grinned, showing her fangs.

"Eeeeh!" Nim tilted her head, "You can understand them?"

The little girl's matching eyes blinked as she looked towards Nim, "Of course, Mama!"

The chimera Blade just squealed, going down on her knees and grabbing the girl and Lux, squeezing them both, "Oh you called me Mama! You're both adorable!"

Lux screeched while the girl giggled.

"Ah-umm…" Kora leaned over, pointing at herself, "What about me?"

Nim paused, blinking at her friend…

The girl just grinned, reaching out to Kora, "Other Mama!"

The thunder Blade couldn't resist, squealing as she reached forward hugging her with Nim, "Oh she's so adorable!"

The two 'moms' squealed a bit while their daughter just giggled between them.

"So uh…" Zenobia just stood there, looking confused, "What's her name? Weapon? Element?"

Squeezing out between Kora and his Blade, Lux chirped and wagged his tail, apparently explaining everything.

Too bad Zenobia couldn't understand a damn thing. She leaned on her hand, floating in the air looking grumpy, "Yea, sure, that explains everything…"

* * *

It turned out the little girl-Blade's name was Lana, and she was an earth type fist fighter like her 'birth' mother…

"Ragh!" Lana punched a hole through one of the giant arachnid monsters, orange eyes shimmering as she threw up her hands and her fists disappeared.

It turned out that despite not having 'hands' for the fist-type weapons to attach to on Lux, they warped to his tail, stacking on each other and making a mace of sorts he could bash at enemies. The little guy was starting to get really good using some art that had him spin like a top and clear the field before tossing the fists back to his Blade.

Zenoboia didn't want to admit she was impressed, but she was! Who knew the little baby boy had it in him!

"YEA!" the windy hunter spun her axe around, grinning wild as she sped up to the largest of the arachnid horde, slicing the king bastard in half.

It seemed, ever since getting Lana, Lux was hanging out with Zenobia more, learning the ways of the mighty hunter… or so Zenobia liked to the think. The little guy wasn't being a useless fluff ball anymore they had to defend, with Lana at his side he could do it himself and he was getting quite impressive.

The little guy chirped triumphantly at Zenobia's foot.

"Heh," the windy hunter sent the little guy a fanged grin, "Doin' good Lux, keep it up!"

The little white mega-Phonex pup padded his feet, excitedly chirping as his Blade came and picked him up, giggling just as much while putting him in her head. Lux sat neatly between her horns and she smiled up at the strange older Blade, "He says we'll have this area cleared in no time!"

"Well we ought'a!" Zenobia snorted, smirking as she set her axe on her shoulder looking around the area, "It's been how the hell long? About time we found this guy's village," she sighed, "Though to think it'd be overrun with these pests! Honestly, it's like none of you guys ever learn!" she set her axe down… amazingly on an arachnid monster that was trying to come up behind her and attack, smashing its head and it squealed in death.

Zenobia, Lana and Lux just blinked at the dying bug.

Lux growled at it, snorting and looking out at the field. Lana frowned up at her Driver, interpreting his growls before turning to Zenobia, "He says this place was once peaceful, his parents spoke of a great hero that saved them here long ago, then the world came down and everything changed…" she tilted her head, putting her finger to her chin, "I wonder who this hero was?"

"Probably you're mom," boredly cleaning out her ear, Zenobia yawned, flicking her finger, "I remember there was something with her running around here all crazy before it got like this…" those lime green eyes looked around, taking in the overgrown forest that had sprung up, "Assuming this _is_ Temperantia like she and thunder-tits claimed…" a frown passed Zenobia's face, she still doubted that was true but it wasn't like she had any other explanation for this place and how it came to be.

All she cared about was finding this kit's family, dropping him off and having the other two find her a way back to Tantal. She had a score to settle with Sheba and it was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY overdue!

The ground around them shook, boulders the size of Lana started rolling and they could all feel the ground beneath them start to give way.

"EEEEEEEEEKKKK!" Lana squeaked and jumped, running for safety. In the distance she saw her parents and bolted right for them, "MAMA!"

"Lana?" Kora turned with a blink, spotting the little white furball that was her and Kora's child running right at them… and behind her was a massive monstrosity of an Arachnid burrowing its way out of the ground with Zenobia laughing and zooming around in the air nearby, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Over here baby!" Nim shouted, holding out her hand.

Lana reached out to grab her hand, but the ground below her cracked and gave way…

Nim's eyes went wide, "NO!" and her hand became a fist, punching the ground, forcing earth ether into it and creating a pillar of earth that shot the little girl Blade right up in the air.

"I got her!" Kora caught the white furball out of the air, smiling brightly at her daughter as she turned around and bolted for a safer spot.

Nim was handling their defenses, punching the ground here and there, putting up walls the large arachnid monster tried to hit through or making fissures to stop others from getting to them. Kora was finding it amusing how well Nim, despite being a healing Blade like her, could adapt to being defensive when they needed it. – _I guess she's picked up a thing or two from her Driver, hehe_ -

In all honesty, Kora found this protective side to the normally so timid chimera Blade quite adorable, and it let her focus on healing them all with Nim being her back up. It kind of reminded her of their Drivers, if she had the time to think about it.

Ducking under a large arachnid claw, Kora rolled, Lana rolling out of her arms and the thunder demon coming up with an electric-heart-themed punch to the thing, producing an ether bottle she then threw at Zenobia, "HERE!"

The bottle hit Zenobia in the back of the head and splashed all over her, well it healed her, that's what mattered, "THANKS!" the windy hunter had a crazed look in her eye, grinning something sharp and vicious.

This arachnid mother monster was the biggest thing she'd seen here yet! If she could take this down she'd have every reason to go back satisfied.

"THIS ENDS IT!" dashing into the air, Zenobia held up her axe, summoning as much wind ether as she could muster. A great typhoon appeared around her, sucking in smaller bugs, bushes, trees, and anything else. Zenobia was finally going to have a chance to bring out her true potential!

Her axe glowed green, buzzing with power and ether and for a moment the large monster arachnid mother probably looked scared.

With a menacing grin, the windy hunter brought down her axe and the storm with it, cutting the giant beast in half causing a shockwave that cleared the area.

…

..

.

As the dust settled, Kora pushed herself up from underneath debris, blinking and patting herself down, making sure she was alive, before glaring at the swath of destruction in front of her, "WHAT THE HELL, ZENOBIA?!"

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!" came another shout not far away, Nim standing with all her fur and feathers on end, Kit and Sunny angrily screeching on her shoulders while Lana was holding Lux next to her looking surprised.

In the middle of it, laying on the body of the monster she'd just slain, Zenobia just let out a laugh, "HELL YEA! THAT WAS FUN!"

The healers just growled, hoping this would soon be over.

With the horde of mega-arachnids cleared out, the Phonex would surely return. Lux chirped and Lana translated for him, stating the others would be back soon enough.

Nim clearly wasn't satisfied with leaving just yet, despite how much Zenobia complained, and Kora tried to act as a mediator between the two. They stayed a few more days, cleaning up the arachnids, mostly Zenobia eating them which still stunned the two healers how she could pack away so much bug-food…

"What? Its protein!" the windy hunter spoke around some carapace she was munching on.

Nim and Kora just stuck with fishing… it was all too weird watching Zenobia. One could literally lose hours captivated by the monstrosity…

Lux and Lana helped out where they could, moving bug bodies, tossing them to Zenobia, and the like. Lux wanted to clean up the area so when his parents and fellow villagers returned everything could go back to normal… or as normal as it could, he'd have to strut a little bit, now that he was a hero and had a Blade after all.

Lana found her Driver's enthusiasm to be adorable… though she was curious about the older Blades that had helped them. She seemed to instinctively understand the two fist healers were her 'parents' and the windy hunter was another comrade of theirs. She found herself, and Lux, following the three around often enough. Lana would try to spy, to observe these older Blades naturally.

She and Lux could never sneak up on Zenobia, the windy hunter always either in the air lazily or off hunting for something else. She was easy to find, but she was always aware they were there. But at least she was free and honest with her stories. While Zenobia may have seemed annoyed having to 'babysit' the two, she'd tell them whatever they asked, in generally graphic detail…

Her parents on the other hand…

Well, Lana and Lux managed to catch the two fist-type Blades more often than not lost in some conversation or sparring… or fishing as Nim liked to do, and Kora would just be sitting with her, leaning on her, probably asleep, as fishing was boring…

It was interesting to watch, at least for Lana… her parents were pretty cute together… when they weren't arguing, whining, or trying to flee from Zenobia doing something crazy.

But after a few days, Zenobia had gotten bored, antsy, and ran out of things to eat…

"Let's get the hell out of here!" the windy hunter complained, arms crossed as she sat in the air looking at the other two flatly, "We did what you guys wanted, now take me back to Tantal!"

Nim and Kora flinched under Zenobia's flat gaze, giving each other a look. Kora shrugged, holding out her arms, and Nim pouted.

"But-but we haven't found the Phonexes…" the chimera Blade rubbed her fingers together, pouting with her ears back. It was the reason she'd come out here… and to get away from the Ardainian base, but still…

Reaching out, Kora put her hand on Nim's shoulder, trying to give her an encouraging smile, "Hey, c'mon!" she pumped her fist, "We managed to take out a horde of those big creepy crawlies AND saved Lux!" she pointed at the chirping white mega-Phonex, "He's even got a Blade! He doesn't need us to look out for him anymore, Lana's there for him!" Kora squeezed Nim's shoulder, pulling her close, "I'm sure he'll find his family just fine now!"

Nim pouted, but she was really trying to suppress the blush Kora's contact brought out in her, squirming as even Kit and Sunny were coaxingly agreeing with the thunder demon, "Ooooh! You're all so mean!" she vibrated, clearly frustrated, in Kora's grip but didn't have the heart to move her… er… _friend_ , "F-fine!" with an angry, adorable, pout she blew air out her nose, "We'll head back! Drop Zenobia back in Tantal! But!" she held up one paw-like hand, orange eyes narrowing on Kora with a serious pout, "Then we come back… it's our job from Morag to keep an eye on this place… and Lana and Lux might miss us… and by then the Phonexes might be back!"

Green eyes rolled, as Kora shook her head, "So demanding…" without even thinking she leaned over and kissed Nim's funny nose, then let her go and started moving, "But we're spending a night in Tantal! I DE-SERVE! A spa day after all this!"

Nim was twitching, red from funny ears to hooves…

"Uh, Mama?" Lana poked her mother.

Lux even chirped at her, but only Kit and Sunny chirped back.

The little Blade and Phonex-Driver shared a look.

"Hey, c'mon you fuzzy weirdo," Zenobia, being Zenobia, just grabbed Nim's arm, not even caring for her catatonic state and started dragging her away, "We got places to be!" a fanged grin spread on her tan face, "And all sorts of monsters to kill! Ha-ha!"

There was some manner of squeal from Nim as she tried to shake off Zenobia's grip, to absolutely no avail, "But! No! I need to say goodbye!"

"Bye Mama!" Lana smiled, waving as the trio left. Lux chirping his farewells next to her, waving his tails…

"Ah-but…" Nim whined, finally just letting herself get dragged away. She waved back, Kit and Sunny chirping as they shook on her shoulders. They'd all miss the two… but she'd see them again soon enough.

As they were leaving, several large white horse-sized creatures came out of the jungle around Lana and Lux. As they got closer they appeared to be Phonex… just all white and MASSIVE compared to their normal state.

Two stepped near Lux, fanning out their tails and chirping at the little one…

He chirped back happily, Lana squealing…

Nim could still hear them, and watched the scene as it grew smaller thanks to Zenobia dragging her away. Well, she found the Phonexes, they just seemed to have mutated the same as nearly everything else in Temperantia.

She was just glad they were okay… and Lux found his family.

The chimera Blade smiled, eager to come back and see them all again.

* * *

"MORAG!"

Upon arriving at the Tantalese palace, the Special Inquisitor did not expect to be rather roughly jump-hugged around the neck by one of her 'missing' Blades!

"N-Nim?!" light brown eyes blinked, pushing the chimera Blade back enough to get a good look at her face.

Nim was smiling, tapping her furry knuckles near her chest, feathery tail waving about, funny turquoise ears back, and even Kit and Sunny her Phonex-dragons on her shoulders were chirping happily and swaying.

It was just such a shock to see her again, "The Ardainian base in Temperantia reported you and Kora had gone missing… nearly _six months_ ago?" with a slight frown, Morag looked at her Blade sternly, "Why haven't you reported in… and why are you in Tantal?"

Nim shrunk a bit, now partially hiding behind her paws, ears low and tail curled in as she made a rather adorably upset face, "I-I'm s-sorry Morag! A lot happened in Temperantia… and we lost track of time… and then found Zenobia… and-and…"

Morag just looked at her Blade sternly, hands on her hips, looking about to reprimand her… only to sigh, reaching out and petting her head, "I'm glad you're safe-!"

"ThankyouMorag!" not even letting her Driver finish, Nim reattached herself to Morag's person, this time around her chest, rubbing her face in the woman's uniform while Kit and Sunny latched on where they could and did the same. Nim was too happy and excited to really care, wagging her feathery tail.

Morag's shoulders slumped ever so slightly, her hand dropping from where Nim abandoned it, and stared ahead flatly, "I will require a report once I return to Mor Ardain…"

"Mmhmm!" nodding far too quickly, Nim obviously didn't hear a word her Driver said.

Nia, standing a step away from her lover and holding their crabby child all bundled up for the cold of Tantal, just flatly looked at the scene, "Oi, where's Kora?" her ears perked, going this way and that, "I don't hear incessant chatter…"

"Honestly, Driver!" a _certain_ voice appeared next to Nia, making the Gormotti woman jump. Kora glared with her light green eyes, hands on her hips at her shorter Driver, "Not an ounce of worry for me? Like, you don't even care what happens if I go missing?!"

Those cream colored grey Gormotti ears went flatter, same with Nia's gold eyes as she glared at her Blade, bouncing only slightly for Ciara's sake, "And why should I, ey? Seems you can handle yourself well enough! I ain't here to babysit _you_!"

Those green eyes rolled on the thunder demon, "Tch, course not!" Kora completely ignored whatever hissing Nia was about to start on, leaning over to pet Ciara's little black head. The baby Gormotti seemed to turn with a narrow look, shockingly similar to Morag's glares, and while this would have weirded Kora out, the little detail she noticed about the baby's eyes completely threw that out the window, "AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!" the thunder demon squealed, "Her eyes are gold now! They're so cute! Aren't you just precious you adorable little bundle of squishy cute-!"

"Kora! Less words!" Nia growled. Ciara hadn't exactly been 'happy' about this whole family trip all the way here, the poor baby not used to the sudden stimulation and since they stepped into the cold of Tantal that baby-crabbiness had increased. Nia was sure any second now she'd start crying and then she'd have to give up her claim on the baby to her mother…

Morag and Brighid were _still_ the only ones that could get the little black haired Gormotti baby to calm down in a timely manner, no matter how much Nia tried.

By some act of the Architect, Kora seemed to actually listen to Nia. The thunder demon's pointed ears twitched, and she pulled her hands back with an embarrassed chuckle, letting the grumpy baby curl back up in a ball in her father's arms and probably go to sleep. Kora couldn't resist one last pat to those adorable little black ears, before standing straight and smiling at her Driver.

This put Nia on edge, as she narrowed her gold eyes on her Blade, "Wut?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," innocently, Kora waved her hands.

Nia's suspicion went through the roof. Her narrow gold eyes went from her normally _chatty_ Blade to Morag's overly fidgety one, and both of them were being oddly… docile… it was weird, "The heck happened to you two while you was off lost in Temperantia, ey?" it was an honest question…

"NOTHING!"

… Though the both of them suddenly shouting that at the same time certainly didn't help.

Raising a brow, Nia looked from one Blade then the other again, "Oi, are you two blushing?"

"C-course… not!" Nim squeaked, shrinking in on herself, "W-why would we be?!"

Now Morag had her brow raised, looking at her Blade.

"Y-yea… it's not like anything _CRAZY_ happened… in Temperantia… while we were…" Kora coughed, looking away, " _Lost_ …"

Both Morag and Nia looked at their Blades flatly, clearly neither of them buying any of this.

"I expect that report before I head back to Mor Ardain, Nim." The Imperial Inquisitor said curtly, hands behind her back as she continued on into the Tantalese palace.

"Y-yes, Morag…" Nim nervously responded.

Nia had a sly-smug look on her face as she looked at her own oddly-acting Blade.

"What?!" one of Kora's pointy ears twitched, not wanting to look at her Driver.

That sly-smug grin grew as Nia moved to follow her lover, "Must'a been some story if you're not goin' on and on' about it… hehehe…"

Red completely covered the thunder demon's face, "S-shut up!"

Nia was cackling as she followed Morag into the palace, it really must have been _some story_ for their Blades to be acting like that. She couldn't wait for Morag to hand her the report so she could read it…

As her dad moved along, Ciara moved so she could stare over her shoulder, eyeing the two Blades that her parents left behind.

Kora and Nim couldn't help but fidget under that oddly stern golden eyed baby gaze…

"Oh she's cute she reminds me of Lana!" Kora couldn't handle it anymore.

"I know!" Nim squealed just the same. The two really couldn't wait to go back and see how their little girl and Lux were doing…

* * *

Meanwhile…

Zenobia was grinning from ear to ear, just strutting around the castle in Tantal happy to be back to somewhere familiar.

She had a certain favor to repay, and was just wondering around trying to find Sheba to keep up her promise. Zenobia hadn't been paying attention to anyone else in the palace scurrying around her.

She didn't notice Theory and Praxis gawking at her like they'd seen a ghost, Praxis obviously more blunt about while Theory was more subtle.

She did not hear the sneer from Dagas as he rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to Daliah, who was here for some reason, blinking surprised at her presence.

She did not see Floren drop a probably expensive tea set as she walked by.

In fact the only thing that _may_ have slipped into Zenobia's notice was that Kassandra was nowhere in sight causing things to break… everyone seemed to be doing that themselves just completely shocked by her mere presence.

Not that Zenobia cared, she had a mission after all!

Walking up to one of the top balconies of the palace, giving a nice view of Tantalese sky, Zenobia found who she was looking for…

Lounging in her watery bathtub, Sheba was looking off into the distance, seemingly forlorn about something, lightly sighing to herself.

A fanged grin spread on the windy hunter's lips as she boldly walked out onto the balcony… completely oblivious to _EVERYONE_ else that had followed her crowding around the door frames to see what was going on.

"HEY SHEBA!" Zenobia shouted without a care in the world, "I'M BACK!"

The shrill voice startled the blonde Urayan Blade, causing her floating water tub to shudder then dissolve, dropping the royal Blade on her royal hinny.

"Haa?" that dumb voice! "You okay there?"

Blue eye twitching, Sheba turned to _that voice_ and spotted someone she had written off years ago!

Zenobia was standing there, stupid fanged grin, stupid overly huge axe on her shoulder, white hair defying gravity and those funny antennae of hers twitching happily. Not a care in the goddamn world!

"So hey!" Zenobia just continued on, not seeming to notice anything, which really wasn't new, "I got lost, but fuzzy and thunder-tits found me and brought me back!" she held out her hands, "And you won so I got to pay up right!"

 _Clearly_ angrily, Sheba got to her feet, hands in fists at her sides as she marched up to the idiot…

"Also they were telling me its been years or something?" lime green eyes staring up at the sky, Zenobia had no idea what was headed for her, "And they were saying some stuff happened, about core crystals? I wasn't really paying attention so…"

Now within striking range, Sheba stood, glaring up at the idiot…

"You disappeared…"

"Haa…?" a white brow rose, Zenobia not understanding the low voice.

"You said we just had to beat you and you'd join our harem…"

Everyone at the door noticed how Sheba was shaking, bracing for what was to come.

Zenobia just looked puzzled, "Yea, I know, that's why I'm here, to pay up right?" that stupid confident grin returned, "I never thought I'd get beat, and so easily, so yea I owe you a lot Sheba! Ha-ha!"

"DAMN RIGHT YOU DO!"

And without warning, at least from Zenobia's point of view, Sheba raised her mighty heel and kicked the power-obsessed idiot, hard enough to make a hole through Tantal's dead shell and probably into the stratosphere… if they were lucky she'd come back down in Temperantia again…

"Oooooh!" everyone at the door collectively winced.

Sheba may have been 'special' but they all knew better then to get within kicking range when she was pissed off… clearly, Zenobia had not learned from the last time they 'fought'.

Lowering her foot, Sheba stood triumphantly… for about a second until she realized she just kicked away the only willing woman within a hundred miles.

"DAMNIT!"

It seemed Sheba would have to wait probably another three years for that idiot to return… hopefully next time her fury at getting stood up wouldn't get the better of her…

* * *

 **A/N:** a commenter over on AO3 mentioned how Zenobia basically agrees to Sheba's blatant hookup request on the condition she could beat her... they liked the idea of the ship and while its not high on my Blade-ship-list i can see a lot of humor in such a pairing~ so had to play with it in my Charlie's Angels detour~

hopefully i can get back to doing this more regularly, i just got lost in another story for a bit, so sorry guys =3=

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury


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